Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattilo Beals is a memoir about Beals experiences and her journey while integrating Little Rocks Central High School. She wanted to share her story about what it was like to grow up in the middle of the civil rights movement and what it was like to be one of the nine students who were the first African Americans to integrate a public all white school. During and after reading the book a few thoughts went through my head. First, was my reaction at the horrific things that were done to Melba by integrationist in Central High. For example, while in the bathroom stall a group of girls locked her in and began dumping paper that was light on fire onto her. Before reading this book I was not truly aware of the extent …show more content…
Board of Education signified the first time that the Supreme Court was on the African American side. This court case was a direct challenge to Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that separate but equal facilities were equal. The book Warriors Don’t Cry is set directly during this period. In 1957, Governor Orval Faubus blocked the integration of nine students from Little Rocks Central High. President Eisenhower eventually became involved for a few reasons; one was because Governor Faubus was making an obvious resistance to federal authority. Another was that he wanted to restore federal supremacy and put an end to the propaganda that the Soviet Union was using during the Cold War. The governor still continued to fight integration by closing all of the Little Rock’s schools but the Supreme Court ruled that the closing of those schools was unconstitutional and that they needed to be reopened. All the while other parts of the civil rights movement were underway including the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and 1956 and sit-ins plus marches for freedom. This memoir gives readers a first hand account of what life was like during this movement and all the barriers Melba and others had to
When somebody does something bad or illegal, there are consequences; Whether it results in karma, punishments, or even a jail sentence, these consequences are solely based upon our actions, or, at least we would hope. In the book Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, we learn that our actions do have repercussions, but we also learn that those of which we receive can be unjust and biased. The memoir follows the true story of Pattillo Beals, one of the nine original black students to integrate into Little Rock Central High School, in 1957 Arkansas. Throughout her journey, she and her fellow colored peers receive relentless hate and unjust treatment from both students and school staff. Minnijean is Melba's closest friend in the group.
Facing the segregationists and the horrors of the South, Melba Pattillo was a strong warrior on the battlefield of racism for all people of color across the world. Beginning with the integration into Central High School, the brave 9 children hit waves upon waves of mobs and white people giving their all to get rid of them. Melba has gone through hell and back facing attacks of anything from sticks of dynamite to acid being thrown in her eyes. Her dignity and courage gave her the strength to refuse to back down and make a remarkable story.
Mike Kelly once said truth is a battle of perceptions. People only see what they’re prepared to confront. It’s not what you look at that matters, but what you see. And when different perception battle against one another, the truth has a way of getting lost. When Melba the narrator of Warriors Don’t Cry was at the age of 5 she was at the brinks of seeing the darks ways of segregation.
The book shows readers the way of African-Americans fighting for their liberty; in such a way, Kluger encourages people to fight for their civil
In the story Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo was one of the Little Rock Nine students who attended an all-white high school for the first time. The time period in the story was when there was segregation in America, between Blacks and Whites. This took place immediately after the Brown Vs. Board of education case, which allowed African American children to go to the same school as White children. The main character, Melba was just an ordinary African American girl until one day, the school offered the students to go to an all-White high school the next year.
Throughout the book Warriors Don’t Cry Melba Pattillo Beals has to deal with unruly racism and ignorance in order to integrate to Central High School. But even with the hateful comments and actions she keeps her head held high, and though it may fall sometimes her family and friends are there to keep her motivated. In chapter 4 Grandma India testifies to Melba after she cries because she is not able to go to the wrestling match, due to the fear that someone would recognize her, “ You’re a warrior on the battlefield for your lord.” (44). Melba takes her grandmother’s words far in her on going battle with bigotry, racism, segregation, and injustice.
Everyday she was escorted to school by a U.S. Marshal. When she arrived, white mothers, fathers and random onlookers would protest mean things saying "2,4,6,8 we don’t want to integrate. " Out of five young girls picked, Ruby was the only one to attend. Her mother, Lucille Bridges thought is was a good idea, but her father, Abon Bridges new it would only cause heartbreak and scarring. Abon new Ruby shouldn’t witness the harsh things the whites said and did not want anyone to hurt her.
The Supreme Court case, Brown vs. Board of Education 349 U.S 294, dealt with the segregation of black children into “separate but equal schools.” The Brown vs. Board of Education was not the first case that dealt with the separating of the whites and blacks in schools. This case was actually made up of five separate cases heard in the United States Supreme court concerning the issue of segregation in public schools. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Briggs v. Elliot, Davis v. Board of Education of Prince Edward County (VA.), Boiling v. Sharpe, and Gebhart v. Ethel were the five cases that made up the Brown case. Thurgood, Marshall, and the National Association for the Advance of Colored People (NCAAP) handled these cases.
The Montgomery Bus boycott was the beginning of the civil rights movements throughout the 1950’s and 60’s, with the ramifications of this one small act snowballing into a movement that brought about the end of the Jim Crow laws across the United States, and a betterment of African-American standings in their own country. The process of desegregation was set into motion in the south, though it was majorly forced upon the bus companies due to the supreme court ruling and financial protest from the boycott. It was also the first major protest organised by the unofficial head of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr.
Imagine getting up everyday before high school and preparing for war. For Melba Pattillo Beals this fear was a scary reality. In the beginning of “Warriors Don 't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock 's Central High” by Melba Pattillo Beals, she begins talking about what it’s like to come back to the haunted racist halls of Little Rock Central High School. This was a time when civil rights was a major issue and the color separation between white and black was about to be broken. Melba and nine other students entered Central High School becoming the first African American students to go to an all white school.
Nine years after the United States Supreme Court ruled separate is not equal many schools were still segregated. Judge Bohanon wanted to end this, so he forced a stop to segregation in Oklahoma City Public Schools through his ruling (1). This shows how government leader like Judge Bohanon would try to stop segregation. With them using the power they had they would start with one small area such as schools and it would get the ball rolling to be able to expand the stop of segregation in other areas. Colleges could no be segregated as of June 6, 1955 because of the ruling by Oklahoma’s Board of Higher Education (8).
Since the late 1950s, when the case for African American rights to receive the same education as their graduates began and ended, or so we thought. Schools today still remain widely segregated throughout the U.S. nation. In 1954 in Topeka, Kansas, the supreme court began to review many cases dealing with segregation in public education. Oliver Brown was one who went against the supreme court for not only his daughter, but for many other African American children to receive equal education in the ray of society. The Brown v. Board of Education case marked the end of racial discrimination in public schools which impacted African Americans to get an equal education in the American society.
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt says that to grow as a person, someone must first be scared. People also have to do what they think is impossible to grow. The Little Rock Nine, who integrated Central High, were scared for their lives every day of their high school experience at Central High.
The Brave and Courageous Mama Having courage is not easy, but having courage can help you throughout life. After the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, I have noticed that many character have shown courage. The character I believe showed the most courage was Mama. I consider this because Mama showed many actions of courage such as risking her job to stand up for what was right, raising the kids without Papa, and when Mama had to stop the fire while protecting her children.
In the book Warriors Don 't Cry, Melba and her friends integrate into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Melba and her friends experiences troubles as she tries to survive integration. Beals reveals a lot of things that would gives hint to things that we see ahead. The book mainly focuses on the south, light has been shed on events in the north around the same time when the Little Rock Nine (Bars) integrated. This essay will make inferences that show how people in the southern schools will continue to be ruthless and slow acceptance for the nine and for the north schools how whites will except African-Americans more.