A question came from the class on the Minnijean Brown incident, which Ernest Green recalled clearly, even though it was 46 years ago. Green was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African American students who attended the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., under protection of National Guard troops in September 1957.
The Minnijean Brown incident was one of the historical events that shaped the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.
"We were at lunch," Green said, recalling that Mini was growing sick and tired of the white classmates giving her a hard time. "This group of students made it their job to spew racial epithets. Mini and I were standing next to each other. Mini had just picked up her bowl of chili.
"It was slow motion. She picked up her chili and just dumped it on his head. The kitchen help broke into applause.
The seniors in Jim Percoco's history class at West Springfield High School listened intensely as Green went on, talking about his experiences with the Civil Rights Movement, which began with the other eight students in Arkansas and continues today. Green was there for that moment in history and continues to be involved with civil rights. He stressed to the students how important it was to take advantage of opportunities, and sometimes the window of opportunity opens for just a second and then it's lost.
"Life is like a VCR that doesn't have a pause button," Green said. "When the moment comes and you have a chance, you have to take it."
Green's opportunity came the summer of 1957 when the school officials chose the students that started at 25 students before 16 dropped out. Green did talk to those 16 in the years following.
"All are lamenting about the missed opportunity," he said.
Green was the only senior in the group and continued through the year, despite some opposition, to graduate and go on to college at Michigan State, where he earned his master’s degree and an honorary doctorate years later.
"Of the nine students, I was the only one in the 12th grade," Green said. "The night before [they went to school], the governor called out the National Guard. We didn't start out to play a role in history. All nine ended up finishing college."
When President Bill Clinton was in office, he recognized them with a Congressional Gold Medal.
Through the years, all nine of them get together. They were on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" once.
"Whenever we get together, we all become 15 or 16 again. It's a bond for life," he said.
GREEN'S VISIT to West Springfield, which was arranged through one of the students' parents, was part of the civil rights lesson the class had been covering since November.
"We've been studying the whole movement," said senior Jessie Faller-Parrett.
Lauren Khair realized the magnitude of their speaker's accomplishments.
"We're seeing history in the making," she said.
As part of their lessons in the past months, the class watched the "Ernest Green Story," a 1991 film about his participation at Little Rock and the Civil Rights Movement afterward. During the question-and-answer session that followed Green’s talk, a student asked what it was like to see an actor, Morris Chestnut, playing him on the screen.
"It makes me feel like I made the right choice," Green said, recalling his work with the producers, spending a week on site at Little Rock and seeing the final product.
"It provided a real springboard for more projects for some African Americans," he said, before naming others in the movie who went on to do other projects on television.
Green also mentioned the impact it had on television news, which was just getting started in 1957. Cameras were there that first day, capturing history. Snapshots of the students going up the stairs of the school with the National Guard standing by are infamous in the Civil Rights Movement.
"Little Rock was the lead story most of 1957," Green said. "Our story would have been no story if it hadn't been for them [news cameras]."
Others in the Civil Rights Movement had their eyes on Little Rock, as well. In June at Green's graduation, he had another historic moment.
"Dr. King attended my graduation," Green said.
Another student questioned the impact on the Civil Rights Movement now. Green's response was that the physical changes — integrating schools, drinking fountains, bathrooms and football teams — were the easy part.
"The first part was the easy part. [To] have all Americans embrace the changes going on," was another step, he said.
"This is a country that has too much 'us' and 'them,' it needs to become 'we.'"
After Green left, Percoco stressed the significance of the lesson the students had.
"You had a unique opportunity here," he said, before assigning each student a journal entry about his feelings and thoughts during the lesson. "It’s an assignment, but I wanted them to keep the journal as a personal account."
Kelsey Carneal talked about the impact Green's visit had.
"It was a way to put a face on what we've learned about the Civil Rights Movement," she said.
Jeff Day felt he had a wider view.
"It gave you a full understanding of his life," Day said.