Little Rock 50th - Still a Long Way to Go

Fifty years after the integration of an all-white high school in Little Rock, Ark., led by a brave group of students remembered as the Little Rock Nine, a new symbol of equality has emerged during the historic look back, the Jena Six.

While their stories and struggle are much different on the surface, it points to the fact that America's battle with racial equality and segregation is far from over.

"This country has demonstrated over time that it is not prepared to operate as an integrated society," Terrence Roberts, one of the nine, told The Associated Press.

Little Rock Nine student Minnijean Brown Trickey put it this way: "Here we are in 2007 and we're still playing the same game."

This week Little Rock will observe the landmark integration of Central High School's 50th anniversary with a series of events that include a speech from former president and Arkansas-native Bill Clinton.

On Sept. 25, 1957, nine black students were led by National Guardsmen into the all-white Central High, and into the history books, in their fight to integrate public schools.

Not unlike the Jena Six, TV cameras rolled, and the story made headlines around the world.

Although the Little Rock School Board was behind the integration, then Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus believed the move would lead to violence between blacks and whites and that the mixing of races in the classroom came too soon after the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling that made segregated classrooms unconstitutional.

This year, the Little Rock School Board has found itself sharply divided on racial lines.

The board's four black members, voted to fire Superintendent Roy Brooks, who also is black. The board's three white members supported Brooks.

The school will be featured in an HBO documentary Tuesday, "Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later."

+ Full Story: 50 Years Since Little Rock Integration

+ Timeline: Milestones in African American Education

+ VIDEO: Legacy of Little Rock Nine Looms in Arkansas