The Civil Rights Issue of our Generation
The Little Rock Nine - 1957. Seventy years later, children like Ruby Bridges are still being denied their civil right to an education.
In 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to escort nine African American students into a previously all-white high school. It was a pivotal moment in the American civil rights movement and, considered by many, the beginning of the end of school segregation.
In 2010, the Wall Street Journal published a letter from Theodore M. Hesburgh lamenting the Obama administration’s decision to end Washington DC's Opportunity Scholarship program. That decision forced thousands of African American Children to remain trapped in one of the worst school systems in America. Father Hesburgh quoted Martin Luther King Jr in saying, ”the key to solving our country’s race problem is plain as day: Find decent schools for our kids”.
In 2026, 2.5 million children, disproportionately poor and minority, are trapped in failing public schools, denying them their civil right to an education. It’s time for our political leaders to declare this a ‘national emergency’ and commit to a program to close these failing public schools and replace them with first-rate facilities, exceptional teachers, and a commitment to give these children the education they deserve.
A National Call for Action
“The following presents our framework for addressing educational inequity as a profound civil rights imperative, recognizing how systemic barriers disproportionately impact children from low-income communities and Communities of Color.”
Michael D. Corral, Senior Advisor
The SJL Foundation Civil Rights Initiative
