Arkansas State Press

Do's And Don'ts

NLR Had A Day of Shame

North Little Rock had its day of shame yesterday, and, unfortunately, it may be a rather long time before we can fully recover from what took place at Senior High School.

When a group of students and some adults acted to bar the entrance to the school for six Negroes who showed up for the opening day of the new term - even though their numbers were comparatively small - they left North Little Rock convicted in the eyes of the world of man's age-old fault of showing inhumanity to his fellow man.

The saddest part of it all was that the mob action was completely uncalled for. School officials had already rescinded their integration order and there was no reason for any demonstration of any kind.

This situation, we can be sure, would have been handled with dignity and to the satisfaction of everybody, if only it had been left in the hands of school officials. Instead, the mob, as it has at other times and in other places, got in its shouts and its threats, its pushing and its shoving.

When this had happened in other integration rows in other places, we had uttered a quiet prayer of thanksgiving that it wasn't happening in North Little Rock. But now it has happened here - and what is there for any of us to say except that North Little Rock has had its day of greatest shame.

There will be weeping all around the world for the animalism that was displayed here yesterday. And all of us here must weep a little too, because a large amount of North Little Rock's self respect died when the mob rose up and tried to have its way.

In fact, there seems nothing left to do now but to weep.

-North Little Rock Times