Daisy Bates – Little Rock NAACP President

Daisy Bates – Little Rock NAACP President

The following are highlights of the remarks of Mrs. Daisy Bates, president of the Little Rock NAACP, at the Better Race Relations award presentation.

When you honor the children you are honoring me and when you honor me you are honoring the children. We accepted tonight with humility and great sadness, representing a chapter in American history that should never have been written.

Your action here tonight will give us courage to return to Little Rock in September 1958 to continue the job.

With the graduation of Ernest Green we won a victory for one. But we must return to the South and win a victory for many. It hasn't been easy, friends. In the last week one boy was kicked every day of the school day for one solid week, but he returned each day and he told me: "Mrs. Bates, I was kicked again today, but I'll be back in the morning."

That's the kind of courage it takes. The children threatened not to go back to school to take their final exams because of the harassment. Vice-President Nixon experienced it for just one day, but these children have gone through this for eight long months.

So we say to you tonight: Support our organization, support your organization that they may support us. We need your help in the South and unless we fight down there, unless you help up here, we cannot continue the fight there.