LITTLE ROCK
Former President Clinton said that 50 years after nine black student integrated Little Rock Central, the world is still struggling with the “unfinished legacy” of looking past race, ethnicity and other differences.
“It is easy to celebrate the courage of others for what they did 50 years ago. It is another thing all together to build the world our children would like to live in 50 years from now,” Clinton said as he shared a stage with the Little Rock Nine.
Clinton said that he rooted for the nine black students in 1957, though he was an 11-year-old boy living 50 miles away in Hot Springs.
“The Little Rock Nine, by going through the doors of Central High School, opened the doors for equal opportunity and quality education for millions of other,” Clinton told a crowd of about 1,300 people at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock. “They dared to dream that the American dream belonged to them too.”
The Little Rock Nine Foundation also awarded scholarships to nine college students Monday night. Each of the students will receive $10,000 over two years and a laptop, as well a mentor from among the Little Rock Nine.
The audience at the Statehouse Convention Center included retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and former Arkansas Gov. Dale Bumpers.
