Part 5/16:
President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s decision to send the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation at Central High School is highlighted as a crucial precedent. Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education banning segregation, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus refused to integrate the school, leading to riots and violent opposition. To uphold the Supreme Court’s decision and protect the rights of Black students, Eisenhower authorized military intervention, deploying troops with M1 rifles.