Everyone has to make choices: agree or disagree, protest or accept, Coke or Pepsi. Eisenhower's executive order was a direct response to those who chose not to follow a federal law. He used the word "wilful" (or "wilfully") three times to emphasize that some folks made a deliberate decision to disobey the law. It also implied that lawbreakers were responsible for the actions that followed their decision.
In a way, Eisenhower no choice but to order the schools to integrate. As president, he'd sworn to uphold the Constitution, and the Constitution said that the schools must be desegregated. He said as much in his initial response to the Brown decision: The Court has spoken and I must obey. The choice, though, was how he'd do this, and he chose to put the full military force of the executive behind the integration effort.
Remember, y'all: choices have consequences. Ike made his, knowing full well that lots of his southern constituents and politicians would come down hard on him. His Little Rock decision didn't hurt his re-election numbers, though—it was an electoral landslide. And when did you last hear of a Republican Presidential candidate getting 40% of the African American vote?
Questions About Choices
- What made the Little Rock Nine choose to take a stand?
- Was it possible not to choose sides a battle about integration?
- Why did Eisenhower feel it was important to enforce a ruling that many people disagreed with?
- Do executive orders rob citizens of the choice about how to run their communities?
Chew on This
Decisions about schools and other community matters are best left to local majority rule.
Once a law is settled, the locals have to accept it, like it or not.