I wonder how many of you noticed a small article in a recent copy of Time magazine. It was headed “A-plus for Little Rock". In part, the article said this. "In Little Rock, Arkansas, once a source of worldwide embarrassment to the US, some 70 Negro students now peacefully attend integrated schools." The article went on to state that one young Negro girl had become the first of her race to be accepted by the Little Rock chapter of the National Honor Society, an organization that brings together the brightest young people in high school for the purpose of tutoring others. This young Negro girl was among the top 10% in her class and together with a spotless record of service, leadership and character, had an A+ scholastic average. Pretty encouraging story is it. Yet it was almost buried in Time magazine. What is it about our society that demands or dictates that constructive worthwhile stories be relegated to the back pages of our papers and magazines, while the stories of terror, intolerance and hatred hit the headlines? There is no doubt about it, the US was embarrassed when Little Rock was a scene of race riots a short time ago. The headlines were full of it the world over. It seems only logical that someone in power would give equal space to the very happy outcome of integration in that city. If the US was once embarrassed over Little Rock, she can now be proud of that city and its success in the field of human relations, and yet, if the current news coverage of the situation is any criterion, no one really cares. To me there is something very wrong in all this.
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