Unearthed photo shows 14-year-old Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in heated civil rights clash in 1957
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A 14-year-old Jerry Jones appears in a recently unearthed 1957 photograph showing a group of white students at North Little Rock High in Arkansas denying six African-American teenagers entry and integration into the school.
Jones, now known as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has admitted that it is he in the photo who was discovered by the police. Washington Post.
The 80-year-old billionaire said he looked “like a little jerk” in the photo, which was taken amid a spate of civil rights clashes in the Little Rock area. More famously, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock’s Central High in September 1957 to escort black students to class as they were harassed and spat on by racist, vicious protesters.
As Jones explained to the Post, his football coach, Jim Albright, had warned players to avoid the widely anticipated scene on the first day of class at North Little Rock High.
Jones disobeyed, but says he did so out of curiosity, not racial animosity.
“I don’t know if I or anyone else expected or had any background to know… what was involved,” he said. “It was more of a curious thing.”
CIRCLED: 14-year-old Jerry Jones” class=”blkBorder img-share” style=”max-width:100%” />
Rebellious white students at North Little Rock High School in Arkansas barred the doors of the school and, on September 9, 1957, denied access to six African-American students. Moments later, the African-American students were pushed down a flight of stairs and onto the sidewalk, where city police broke up the altercation. CIRCLED: 14-year-old Jerry Jones
The 80-year-old billionaire said he looked “like a little jerk” in the photo, which was taken amid a spate of civil rights clashes in the Little Rock area. As Jones explained to the Post, his football coach, Jim Albright, had warned players to avoid the widely anticipated scene on the first day of class at North Little Rock High.
Since buying the Cowboys in 1989, Jerry Jones, now 80, has won three Super Bowls
But not everyone stood at the entrance to North Little Rock High out of curiosity.
As one black student, Richard Lindsey, explained, a white student put his hand behind his neck as he announced to the crowd, “I want to see how a ***** feels.”
The new enrollees decided not to attend the school.
Jones is not pictured at the front of the pack, but rather behind a group of older-looking students.
The flat-faced teen grew up in the South in the heyday of the civil rights movement. But while his father was happy to serve black customers in the family’s non-segregated grocery store, Pat Jones ran for public office on a pro-segregationist platform.
“I stand for the rights of states,” Pat said while campaigning for the Arkansas legislature, using a phrase that’s a common euphemism for segregation.
Jones’s grandfather, a cotton farmer named Joe, was a member of the Arkansas branch of the White Citizens’ Council.
A police officer points to a youth as he stops a group of North Little Rock High School students from singing Dixie songs at school this morning. African-American students who tried to enter the school yesterday, stayed away in North Little Rock on September 10, 1957
Two black students — Richard Richardson, 17, and Harold Smith, 17 — are harassed in Little Rock in 1957 while trying to integrate North Little Rock High into Arkansas
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This view, taken from the doors of North Little Rock High School, shows students rushing to stop six African-American boys from trying to attend the first day of class, September 9, 1957. The children had previously enrolled at the school. At the door, white students blocked the entrance and managed to drive back the black students.
The future owner of the Cowboys would go on to play for an all-white football team in Arkansas and win a national title in 1964 alongside future Dallas head coach Jimmy Johnson, who was also Jones’ roommate. He would later hire another former Razorback, Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer, to replace Johnson.
Jones hasn’t been very vocal about racial issues since he bought the Cowboys in 1989 for $140 million – money he made from oil and gas exploration.
He has raised objections to the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one candidate from an outside minority for top positions, and has never hired a black head coach or executive. (Jones holds the GM title to himself, and his son, Steven, serves as the Cowboys’ Chief Operating Officer/Executive Vice President/Director of Player Staff)
“He has a history of being quite dismissive and arrogant towards players in negotiations, but I can’t honestly say it’s completely race driven because I’ve seen it with the black players and the white players,” a black player told the Post. “He’s kind of condescending about equal opportunities.”
Jones did object to protests during the 2017 NFL season, when many African-American players took to their knees to raise awareness of racist police practices. He finally knelt with his entire team in September 2017 (pictured) in a choreographed demonstration that took place while the national anthem was not playing
Jones did object to protests during the 2017 NFL season, when many African-American players took to their knees to raise awareness of racist police practices. He finally knelt with his entire team in September 2017 in a choreographed demonstration that took place while the national anthem was not playing.
“Our players wanted to make a statement about unity and we wanted to make a statement about equality,” Jones said at a press conference after the game. “They were well aware that statements made or attempted in and as part of the recognition of our flag could lead to not only criticism but also controversy.
“It was very easy for everyone in our organization to see that the message of unity, the message of equality, if you will, was pushed aside or weakened by the controversy.”