Which event involved the Arkansas governor using National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering a high school, prompting federal troops to intervene?

• A. Little Rock Nine
• B. Freedom Rides
• C. Montgomery Bus Boycott
• D. Sit-In Movement

Answer: (A)

Federal enforcement of desegregation against local resistance is what's at play here. The event described took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, when the governor called out the National Guard to block nine Black students from entering Central High School. In response to this defiance of a federal court order, President Eisenhower federalized the Guard and sent in federal troops to guarantee the students' admission. This moment shows how the federal government would use national authority to uphold the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education and integrate public schools, despite violent pushback from local officials. The other options point to different Civil Rights actions—Freedom Rides challenged segregation on interstate buses; the Montgomery Bus Boycott focused on bus seating; the Sit-In Movement began with protests at lunch counters—none involved a state governor calling out the National Guard to block entry to a high school and federal troops having to intervene.