Central High at the end of the 1956-1957 school year was a normal, average southern high school; an all-white, typical example of the image that the south portrayed to the rest of the nation. However, after legislature forced the integration of nine African-American students into the high school, the school was thrust into the spotlight of the nation, as risk suddenly became an issue, both for the individuals involved, and the nation as a whole.
For the individuals involved, the risk that was involved was their lives. As portrayed in the video The Crisis at Central High, there were several threats on the lives of not only the individuals involved, but on those lives of the entire school through repeated bomb threats. The black students attending the school (shown below) also were at risk, both emotionally and physically, as they stood up for their rights.
The physical risks of these students was determined to be so great, troops were called in to defend them, as pictured above. The students risked being emotionally damaged by the mobs that constantly surrounded them and tauted them and told them to go home. The teachers at the schools risked being killed by bombs, as there were constant bomb threats, as well as losing face for being associated with black children. Even though it was their job, they would still lose face in the community from association. Also, the possible loss of respect from one's own parents from the helping of black children, which may have gone against the morals instilled in the faculty when they were young, may have held sway in the balance of risk that was added to the dilemma. The ensuing mob of prejudice that mounted outside of the school also had risks; they risked losing face should they not uphold the bigoted traditions passed down to them by their parents. They also may lose their lives should they go too far and the soldiers be forced into action. Yet, the mob rolled on.
Not only were things at stake for the individuals immediately involved in the conflict, but for the nation as well. With the way that this conflict resolves itself, a precedent is established for the remainder of these dilemmas. The morality of the country is in the sway, and this is the risk that the country takes as it integrates the schools of Arkansas.