When Ernie Green signed a form seeking a transfer to Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957, he and his family saw it as “an opportunity to have a wider range of opportunities than that which existed for me at Horace Mann [High School],” Green recalls. “I would pass Central every day on the way to another school.”

Green never imagined then that he and eight other black students were about to make history as the Little Rock Nine. He discussed the impact of Brown v. Board of Education—and his own involvement in integrating the all-white Central High School during a luncheon this spring at the AFT national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

No one expected Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus “to play the race card” when the black students tried to enter Central for the first time in September 1957, Green said. “The governor decided he needed to show he was tough against integration,” so he called in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the students from entering the school.

After more than two weeks of unrest, President Dwight Eisenhower was forced to send federal troops to escort Green and the eight other black students into Central. The taunts and harassment from angry whites that the Little Rock Nine had endured as they approached the school continued on the inside. And “the white students who tried to befriend us were also intimidated,” he said.

Green characterized the 1950s and 1960s as a time when “a lot of courageous people put a lot at jeopardy”—including their lives and jobs—to fight discrimination. He recalled the part his family played in the struggle for equity. His mother and aunt both taught for more than 40 years, and both were involved in a lawsuit to equalize the pay of black and white teachers in Little Rock.

The Brown decision, Green said, “was a psychological breakthrough,” which “triggered changes in American society that not only benefited African-Americans but [brought about] improvements for women and other minority groups as well.”

Green, who served as assistant secretary in the Labor Department during the Carter administration and now lives in Washington, D.C., noted that the legacy of the Brown decision is still a factor in American life. “In a world that’s shrinking and becoming infinitely more competitive, because of Brown v. Board, this country has a better opportunity to hold itself up as a leader in including people and not excluding them.”