Story and photos by Jake Weber

The past and future, national and personal all collided in Albion on February 28, for the final event of the College’s 2006 Black History Month. More than 200 people gathered in Goodrich Chapel to hear Ernest Green discuss the civil rights movement, from his prominent role in it through what he sees as the battles yet to be won by today’s students.

Green was a member of the “Little Rock Nine,” African-American teenagers who desegregated Little Rock Central High School, in Arkansas, amid a statewide firestorm of opposition in 1957. The first of the nine to graduate from Little Rock Central, Green went on to a successful business career while continuing to work as a civil rights activist. He was featured prominently in the documentary “Eyes on the Prize.”

At Albion, Green first described some of the fear and humiliation he and his fellow the students faced in 1957: the 1,000 National Guard troops forcing a path to the school through a furious crowd, the day-to-day harassment, everything from teasing to scattered broken glass in locker rooms. He described situations in which he and his classmates were pushed to the limit to anger, but nonetheless stated, “Most people in Little Rock didn’t want to see us hurt -- but they certainly wanted to see us fail. But we weren’t going to see that happen. Our families weren’t, our communities weren’t, and we nine students certainly weren’t.”

“If there was anything heroic [in what we did], it wasn’t what was on the TV cameras,” Green said. “It was when we went home at night and opened up our books.”

Most of Green’s presentation, however, focused not on the past, but on the present and future of the civil rights movement, a “project” he sees as being far from completed.

Green, who is currently a vice president with Lehman Brothers, cited current economic and educational disparities between blacks and whites, stating that these are still serious issues not simply for individuals, but for society.

Citing a statistic indicating that the average white American family has ten times the net worth of the average African-American family, Green said, “Anyone whose family has ever helped them pay for college tuition, or to buy a new house or car knows [the benefit of family assets] …. We still feel the effects of centuries during which black families were not allowed to amass wealth. Our children will not be winning races when they start ten yards behind the competition.”

Green further encouraged the many education majors in the audience to hold onto the idealism of new teachers, and to take jobs in poorer school districts. “[You need to] believe that it’s possible for any young child to succeed. With many school districts, people want to predetermine that some kids don’t have the drive or the intelligence to succeed. That’s a terrible stigma that we in the country have got to get beyond.”

Green made numerous references to international political and social situations, stating his belief that the civil rights movement holds promise as a model for the entire world. “I believe when people find common ground [through social equality], we learn we’re not as different as we thought. That is a lesson we can pass on to those who look with horror on September 11, 2001,” he said. “Maybe we can’t reach every hater, but shouldn’t those of us who know the anger of the past be able to reach out to those who are angry today?”

Green’s visit to Albion grew out of a creative writing research project done by Rachael Lyon, ’06. Funded by the College’s Foundation for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (FURSCA), Lyon traveled to Little Rock in 2005 to do research for a poem series she was writing on the Little Rock desegregation. A Little Rock historian offered to pass a letter from Lyon to Green, who responded with interest to her project.