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Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

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Maria Mac
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Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

#1 Post by Maria Mac » September 21st, 2014, 3:54 pm

I decided against putting this in the 'books enjoyed' thread because 'enjoyed' isn't really the right word.

I found this book utterly compelling. It is also one of the saddest, most tragic stories I've ever read.

Elizabeth is the black girl in the pic below, which was taken in September 1957. She was one of the so-called 'Little Rock 9', students who were selected to be the first black children to attend an all-white high school in the capital city of Arkansas. The pic was taken after she had been turned back by soldiers brought in by the segregationist state governor to keep them out, in defiance of the law that had been passed a couple of years earlier. She was followed by a mob of some 250 men, women and children screaming for her to be lynched, go back to Africa etc etc. She was 15.

The pic went the 1957 equivalent of viral and the negative attention it attracted from both within the USA and around the world forced President Eisenhower to intervene and send in the national guard - for a short while - to protect the 9 students as they attended the school. Once these soldiers were withdrawn, the students lives were made hell for the rest of the school year and I don't just mean verbal abuse. Being scalded, body slammed against lockers, thrown onto broken glass - these were daily occurrences, as were the protesters, who gathered outside the school each day to shout abuse at them as they arrived.

Incredibly, the Arkansas governor - taking a last stand against desegregation - closed ALL the high schools in Little Rock for the 1958-59 school year so no child, white or black got a school education that year.

The book tells the story of how Elizabeth's experience at the school blighted every aspect of her life for ever more. (Many, many years later she was diagnosed with PTSD.)

Hazel is the white girl - also aged 15 - pictured walking behind Elizabeth, screaming at her. They would have been classmates had Hazel not been withdrawn by her parents due to the negative publicity the pic attracted. A year later she was married, living in a trailer with her husband and starting a family.

By the time she was 21, Hazel - who'd always had a strong, independent streak - had started to think about things and see things differently. Entirely on her own initiative, she phoned Elizabeth and made a tearful apology. Elizabeth (who could never bear to look at the pic closely) had no idea who she was but she felt the apology was sincere and graciously accepted it but they had no more contact for many years and, in time, Elizabeth even forgot her tormentor's name.

During that time Hazel lost any religious faith she'd had and got ex-communicated by her fundy church and became a bit of a hippy (compared to her peers - I don't mean she 'dropped out', rather that she became interested in various new agey ideas). She challenged her parents and her husband on their racism and brought her 3 children up to be kind and tolerant. She got a bit more of an education through doing courses and did some (unqualified) social work with black youngsters.

When both women were in their 50s they got together and began what seemed to be a close friendship that lasted a couple of years. They talked on the phone, went out together, exchanged gifts and did lots of interviews. (They were on Oprah once and both came out feeling upset and abused!) But gradually the cracks started to appear.

It seemed to me that Hazel had gone as far as she could go in distancing herself from what she had once been, bearing in mind the culture and family she'd been raised in as well as her lack of education but in the end it simply wasn't enough for Elizabeth who, as many observed, was "still bleeding". Furthermore, Hazel attracted a lot of hostility from both blacks who were cynical about her motives and from whites who hadn't travelled the same path and were still racist. She ended up heartbroken and wondering why she had ever bothered going public.

I never fail to find it mindblowing that parts of the USA were still like that in my lifetime.
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jaywhat
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Re: Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

#2 Post by jaywhat » September 21st, 2014, 4:24 pm

What a story. Thanks for sharing it.

Maria Mac
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Joined: July 3rd, 2007, 10:34 pm

Re: Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

#3 Post by Maria Mac » September 21st, 2014, 4:28 pm

One thing I forgot to mention was that Bill Clinton - just a few years younger and growing up an hour's drive away in Hot Springs (don't they just have the best place names?)- credited this story with steering him away from racism and becoming a redneck. One of the few times in the book when we hear of Elizabeth being happy and proud was when he awarded her some honour at the White House.

Fia
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Joined: July 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

Re: Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

#4 Post by Fia » September 22nd, 2014, 4:14 pm

Thank you for this recommendation Athena, I certainly want to read it now. Have ordered it from the Library.

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animist
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Joined: July 30th, 2010, 11:36 pm

Re: Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

#5 Post by animist » November 11th, 2017, 11:48 am

Maria Mac wrote:I decided against putting this in the 'books enjoyed' thread because 'enjoyed' isn't really the right word.

I found this book utterly compelling. It is also one of the saddest, most tragic stories I've ever read.

Elizabeth is the black girl in the pic below, which was taken in September 1957. She was one of the so-called 'Little Rock 9', students who were selected to be the first black children to attend an all-white high school in the capital city of Arkansas. The pic was taken after she had been turned back by soldiers brought in by the segregationist state governor to keep them out, in defiance of the law that had been passed a couple of years earlier. She was followed by a mob of some 250 men, women and children screaming for her to be lynched, go back to Africa etc etc. She was 15.

The pic went the 1957 equivalent of viral and the negative attention it attracted from both within the USA and around the world forced President Eisenhower to intervene and send in the national guard - for a short while - to protect the 9 students as they attended the school. Once these soldiers were withdrawn, the students lives were made hell for the rest of the school year and I don't just mean verbal abuse. Being scalded, body slammed against lockers, thrown onto broken glass - these were daily occurrences, as were the protesters, who gathered outside the school each day to shout abuse at them as they arrived.

Incredibly, the Arkansas governor - taking a last stand against desegregation - closed ALL the high schools in Little Rock for the 1958-59 school year so no child, white or black got a school education that year.

The book tells the story of how Elizabeth's experience at the school blighted every aspect of her life for ever more. (Many, many years later she was diagnosed with PTSD.)

Hazel is the white girl - also aged 15 - pictured walking behind Elizabeth, screaming at her. They would have been classmates had Hazel not been withdrawn by her parents due to the negative publicity the pic attracted. A year later she was married, living in a trailer with her husband and starting a family.

By the time she was 21, Hazel - who'd always had a strong, independent streak - had started to think about things and see things differently. Entirely on her own initiative, she phoned Elizabeth and made a tearful apology. Elizabeth (who could never bear to look at the pic closely) had no idea who she was but she felt the apology was sincere and graciously accepted it but they had no more contact for many years and, in time, Elizabeth even forgot her tormentor's name.

During that time Hazel lost any religious faith she'd had and got ex-communicated by her fundy church and became a bit of a hippy (compared to her peers - I don't mean she 'dropped out', rather that she became interested in various new agey ideas). She challenged her parents and her husband on their racism and brought her 3 children up to be kind and tolerant. She got a bit more of an education through doing courses and did some (unqualified) social work with black youngsters.

When both women were in their 50s they got together and began what seemed to be a close friendship that lasted a couple of years. They talked on the phone, went out together, exchanged gifts and did lots of interviews. (They were on Oprah once and both came out feeling upset and abused!) But gradually the cracks started to appear.

It seemed to me that Hazel had gone as far as she could go in distancing herself from what she had once been, bearing in mind the culture and family she'd been raised in as well as her lack of education but in the end it simply wasn't enough for Elizabeth who, as many observed, was "still bleeding". Furthermore, Hazel attracted a lot of hostility from both blacks who were cynical about her motives and from whites who hadn't travelled the same path and were still racist. She ended up heartbroken and wondering why she had ever bothered going public.

I never fail to find it mindblowing that parts of the USA were still like that in my lifetime.
I have only just noticed this post, but encore. I go back further than you, Maria, and while I was taking A Levels two petty criminals were being hanged for killing another such, while of course men were in fear of prosecution for being gay. Nothing's impossible, we must stick to this!

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