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US marks 1957 integration crisis US marks 1957 integration crisis
(about 12 hours later)
Ex-US President Bill Clinton is in his home state of Arkansas to mark the 50th anniversary of the integration crisis at Little Rock Central High School. Former US President Bill Clinton has attended a ceremony in Arkansas to mark 50 years since an integration crisis at Little Rock Central High School.
The crisis saw a three week stand-off between a group of nine black students and an angry mob who wanted to stop them attending the all-white school. The crisis lasted for three weeks in 1957, as an angry mob tried to stop a group of nine black students attending the all-white school.
The crisis was only ended when President Dwight D Eisenhower sent in troops to control the crowds. The confrontation was only ended when former President Dwight D Eisenhower sent in troops to control the crowds.
The event became a seminal moment in the civil rights struggle in the US. The event became a seminal moment in the civil rights movement in the US.
'Celebrate courage' The anniversary comes a week after thousands marched through the town of Jena, Louisiana to protest about allegations of unequal racial justice in a case which has seen several black high-school children jailed.
A series of events is being held in Little Rock to celebrate the integration of Central High School. 'Overcome adversity'
At a gala on Monday evening, Mr Clinton said Americans needed to continue to improve race relations. In Little Rock, about 4,500 people gathered in front of the Central High School on Tuesday to honour the bravery of the group of black teenagers - now in their sixties - who have become known as the "Little Rock Nine".
"It is easy to celebrate the courage of others for what they did 50 years ago," he said. Mr Clinton, a former governor of Arkansas, held open the school's doors in a symbolic gesture.
It is another thing altogether to build the world our children would like to live in 50 years from now." You can overcome adversity if you know you are doing the right thing Carlotta Walls LanierMember of the Little Rock Nine class="" href="/1/hi/world/americas/7010184.stm">Legacy of the Little Rock Nine
The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1954 that segregated classrooms were unconstitutional. "I am grateful we had a Supreme Court that saw 'separate but equal' and 'states' rights' for the shams they were, hiding our desire to preserve the oppression of African-Americans," he said.
But three years later, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus attempted to block the Little Rock Nine, as the group of students became known, from enrolling at Central High. "I am grateful more than I can say that we had a president who was determined to enforce the order of the court."
President Eisenhower eventually had to send in troops from the 101st Airborne division to escort the group to class, dealing opponents of the black civil rights movement a crushing blow. One of the nine, Carlotta Walls Lanier, urged the school's current generation of students to have the courage to act on their convictions.
The BBC's James Coomarasamy, in Little Rock, says the ceremony to mark one of the key events of the civil rights era takes place at a moment when America is examining the state of its race relations following last week's protest in the Louisiana town of Jena. "You can overcome adversity if you know you are doing the right thing," she said.
The case there of jailed black high school children, with its allegations of unequal racially-based justice, has for some brought back memories of those earlier, less enlightened times being remembered in Little Rock, our correspondent adds. Another, Ernest Green, said the group had believed the school was "the place that would accept us, that we'd belong".
"We saw it as a building that offered opportunity and options for us. And you know what? Fifty years later, I think we were right," he told the crowd.
Showdown
The Little Rock crisis started on 4 September 1957 when a 15-year-old black schoolgirl named Elizabeth Eckford arrived at the gates of the all-white Central High School.
On reaching the school gates, she was blocked by a member of the Arkansas National Guard.
They had been stationed there by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus as part of a campaign of "massive resistance" to a 1954 Supreme Court ruling that segregated classrooms were unconstitutional.
Ms Eckford was later joined by eight other pupils.
The confrontation at the school quickly escalated into a showdown between the state and the federal government.
President Eisenhower eventually sent in troops from the 101st Airborne division to escort the group to class on 25 September 1957, dealing a crushing blow to opponents of the black civil rights movement.