“Perhaps only Shakespeare could have done justice to the intricate complexities and personalities of this battlefield, boiling it down to the basics in human fears, and seasoned with the timidity of moderates silenced further by the boldness of those who passionately speak and strike out. The naïve, yet incredibly brave and determined black teenage students became, of course, the human realities of what the words of laws create outside courtrooms. Because on a personal basis they had the most to lose (possibly their lives ), history has fairly given them the most praise for valor, and this is how it should be. . . . “Although personal life disruptions hardly compare to the importance of what the black students accomplished with their courage and determination, there are thousands of other stories that happened during that time that are also part of the whole fabric of this period’s social evolution. . . . But 50 years later, I am still wondering why a country founded on freedom for all still struggles to wrap its mind around the concept.”
--Fran Alexander, "Fifty Years of Wondering Why," Northwest Arkansas Times
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