Interview with James Hicks, a Black journalist who covered the Little Rock Crisis
Questions to Consider:
What was the experience of Black journalists in Little Rock? How was that different from White journalists?
INTERVIEWER:WAS LIKE WHEN YOU GOT JUMPING AHEAD TO LITTLE ROCK, IN 1957, WHAT WAS YOUR SENSE OF THE TOWN WHEN YOU ARRIVED THERE?
James L. Hicks:when you asking about Little Rock and, uh, I can recall having been stationed at Fort Joseph T. Robinson I think it is ah, anyway, in the army, I had been stationed and that's right outside of Little Rock, so that ah, I was there with the ah, I remember being in the army from there you know? But I knew that it was a segregated town and ah, ah, it was not unlike Mississippi, but, ah I did not feel that ah, they would bar people from the schools and of course when I got there they barred these people from the schools. This was quite a shock to me. And I looked up Daisy Bates and we sat down ah, it was just something that I couldn't imagine.
INTERVIEWER:CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT DAY WHEN YOU WERE CAUNGHT IN THE MOB, THE DAY THE BLACK STUDENTS FIRST ENTERED THE SCHOOL?
James L. Hicks:Yeah, this was, a, this was the first day ah, that they people was admitted to the school. And we went in, too, the black press. Moses Newsome and myself and Alex Wilson. We went into Daisy's house, stayed there ah, early that morning, we had a cop …
INTERVIEWER:YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR STORY AGAIN, WHEN YOU GOT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAN YOU?
James L. Hicks:Ah, on that first day, we went, we traveled by car the three of us, by car to Central High School. Daisy and the Little Rock nine were in back of us in another car. We arrived at the school when there was a mob already out in front of the school. And from that point on, we didn't see Daisy and them until afterwards because they went into and she's clever, we they didn't come right in the front door, they went into a side door. And pretty soon we were out there on the mall in front of the school and the word got to the crowd outside that the niggers are in the school. And so, they said to us on the outside, "Did you decoy, did you lead these people in, you come out here as a decoy and let other people slippin' into the side of this building?" So, ah, I mean, this was something that ah, I said "Hell no" like that, you see.4 And ah, the, rest of us said this was ridiculous. But, I remember one man who came upon me. He was a one-armed man. But now, this was a mob all around us, about I mean, we were out-numbered I guess about 500 to one. And so they started getting smart and what not. And pretty soon, this one man, he put his arm around my neck, like this and the others start attacking me. But I was able to look up and see that whereas, I was being held and my clothes torn off, Alex Wilson, somebody had a brick in his hand and instead of throwing the brick, cause he was too close, and he didn't want to, I guess, throw it, he hit Wilson, up the side of his head, with this brick I mean a full brick it picked up um, and slapped him like that. Of course, Wilson was more than six feet tall, an ex-Marine, he went down like a tree. Uh, the, Newsome, he was mauled, I was mauled, I remember being the one thing that I remember was that when I bent over like this, and he was circling me to see if he could get up underneath me, I mean I'm bent double like this, and he was trying to get his foot, I mean, kick me in my stomach, you know, like that in the groin. And ah, so ah, we started running but it was hardly anyway to run because they were surrounding us, you see. We saw the FBI, who did nothing, but ah, we finally ran away and got down to the black section of Little Rock. But the kids got in school.
INTERVIEWER:THIS LAST QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT COURAGE OF THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS WHICH HAS BEEN VERY CONTROVERSIAL AND PROBABLY EVEN AS NOW, IT'S BEEN SAID THAT THE TELEVISION JOURNALISTS REALLY CUT THEIR TEETH IN THE LITTLE ROCK STORY AND, I WONDER IF YOU FEEL LIKE IF THEY REALLY GOT THE STORY THAT WENT OUT. DID THEY GET THE RIGHT STORY?
James L. Hicks:I never saw it because I ah, actually I was moving around and ah, ah, sometimes when you're on the road, you look and see but there was no paper that I read that had the story that I witnessed out there. As a matter of fact, some people say that we served as decoys and that simply was not true. I mean, they ah, we represented, the three of us represented the whole black press I mean, ah, and frankly, I don't think television at that time was ah, coming up with anything new I mean, ah, and they had the cameras but I don't see, maybe it maybe was timidity that they did not get into ah, the kicks and bruises that ah, was centered on us. I mean the three of us down there.
INTERVIEWER:THERE'S A LOT OF NOISE OUTSIDE. I THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU THAT ONE… IF YOU AGAIN, CAN JUST TELL US ABOUT THE WHITE PRESS COVERAGE.
James L. Hicks:Well they they, ah, first the white press did not pick up on the fact that four of us would not let the blacks in the black press into his press conferences. The ah, the three of us represented the black press, that was all, and we were kicked around by the mob, our clothes were torn off ah, the New York Times, put on the front page the face Wilson, picture of us, with hit with the brick. And ah, that was notorious. But uh, the, ah, the media, the electronic media did not come in on anything that ah, I could read about that, was anything bearing resemblance it what I was there. You know, what we saw.
INTERVIEWER:YOU SAID A MOMENT AGO, YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE TIMID OR AFRAID??
James L. Hicks:Well, that's what I think that it was ah, ah, timidity on their part to get out there and get into the middle of the mob, because, believe me, I was running and I mean, I don't see any, anyway that that ah, electronics media could have been in front of that school and and ah, not get the three of us running away from that mob and ah, when ah this was the only thing that ah, the press came up with stills of a story, but ah I don't know whether it was timidity or whether they were thinking about their equipment, or what I don't know.
James L. Hicks:when you asking about Little Rock and, uh, I can recall having been stationed at Fort Joseph T. Robinson I think it is ah, anyway, in the army, I had been stationed and that's right outside of Little Rock, so that ah, I was there with the ah, I remember being in the army from there you know? But I knew that it was a segregated town and ah, ah, it was not unlike Mississippi, but, ah I did not feel that ah, they would bar people from the schools and of course when I got there they barred these people from the schools. This was quite a shock to me. And I looked up Daisy Bates and we sat down ah, it was just something that I couldn't imagine.
INTERVIEWER:CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT DAY WHEN YOU WERE CAUNGHT IN THE MOB, THE DAY THE BLACK STUDENTS FIRST ENTERED THE SCHOOL?
James L. Hicks:Yeah, this was, a, this was the first day ah, that they people was admitted to the school. And we went in, too, the black press. Moses Newsome and myself and Alex Wilson. We went into Daisy's house, stayed there ah, early that morning, we had a cop …
INTERVIEWER:YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR STORY AGAIN, WHEN YOU GOT TO THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAN YOU?
James L. Hicks:Ah, on that first day, we went, we traveled by car the three of us, by car to Central High School. Daisy and the Little Rock nine were in back of us in another car. We arrived at the school when there was a mob already out in front of the school. And from that point on, we didn't see Daisy and them until afterwards because they went into and she's clever, we they didn't come right in the front door, they went into a side door. And pretty soon we were out there on the mall in front of the school and the word got to the crowd outside that the niggers are in the school. And so, they said to us on the outside, "Did you decoy, did you lead these people in, you come out here as a decoy and let other people slippin' into the side of this building?" So, ah, I mean, this was something that ah, I said "Hell no" like that, you see.4 And ah, the, rest of us said this was ridiculous. But, I remember one man who came upon me. He was a one-armed man. But now, this was a mob all around us, about I mean, we were out-numbered I guess about 500 to one. And so they started getting smart and what not. And pretty soon, this one man, he put his arm around my neck, like this and the others start attacking me. But I was able to look up and see that whereas, I was being held and my clothes torn off, Alex Wilson, somebody had a brick in his hand and instead of throwing the brick, cause he was too close, and he didn't want to, I guess, throw it, he hit Wilson, up the side of his head, with this brick I mean a full brick it picked up um, and slapped him like that. Of course, Wilson was more than six feet tall, an ex-Marine, he went down like a tree. Uh, the, Newsome, he was mauled, I was mauled, I remember being the one thing that I remember was that when I bent over like this, and he was circling me to see if he could get up underneath me, I mean I'm bent double like this, and he was trying to get his foot, I mean, kick me in my stomach, you know, like that in the groin. And ah, so ah, we started running but it was hardly anyway to run because they were surrounding us, you see. We saw the FBI, who did nothing, but ah, we finally ran away and got down to the black section of Little Rock. But the kids got in school.
INTERVIEWER:THIS LAST QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT COURAGE OF THE LITTLE ROCK CRISIS WHICH HAS BEEN VERY CONTROVERSIAL AND PROBABLY EVEN AS NOW, IT'S BEEN SAID THAT THE TELEVISION JOURNALISTS REALLY CUT THEIR TEETH IN THE LITTLE ROCK STORY AND, I WONDER IF YOU FEEL LIKE IF THEY REALLY GOT THE STORY THAT WENT OUT. DID THEY GET THE RIGHT STORY?
James L. Hicks:I never saw it because I ah, actually I was moving around and ah, ah, sometimes when you're on the road, you look and see but there was no paper that I read that had the story that I witnessed out there. As a matter of fact, some people say that we served as decoys and that simply was not true. I mean, they ah, we represented, the three of us represented the whole black press I mean, ah, and frankly, I don't think television at that time was ah, coming up with anything new I mean, ah, and they had the cameras but I don't see, maybe it maybe was timidity that they did not get into ah, the kicks and bruises that ah, was centered on us. I mean the three of us down there.
INTERVIEWER:THERE'S A LOT OF NOISE OUTSIDE. I THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO ASK YOU THAT ONE… IF YOU AGAIN, CAN JUST TELL US ABOUT THE WHITE PRESS COVERAGE.
James L. Hicks:Well they they, ah, first the white press did not pick up on the fact that four of us would not let the blacks in the black press into his press conferences. The ah, the three of us represented the black press, that was all, and we were kicked around by the mob, our clothes were torn off ah, the New York Times, put on the front page the face Wilson, picture of us, with hit with the brick. And ah, that was notorious. But uh, the, ah, the media, the electronic media did not come in on anything that ah, I could read about that, was anything bearing resemblance it what I was there. You know, what we saw.
INTERVIEWER:YOU SAID A MOMENT AGO, YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE TIMID OR AFRAID??
James L. Hicks:Well, that's what I think that it was ah, ah, timidity on their part to get out there and get into the middle of the mob, because, believe me, I was running and I mean, I don't see any, anyway that that ah, electronics media could have been in front of that school and and ah, not get the three of us running away from that mob and ah, when ah this was the only thing that ah, the press came up with stills of a story, but ah I don't know whether it was timidity or whether they were thinking about their equipment, or what I don't know.
