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Melba Pattilo Beals is an African American woman, who was born on December 7, 1941. Warriors Don’t Cry is was memoir of Beals’ encounter in the Civil Right Era. With memorable encounters with the Little Rock 9, who were a group of 9 African American students who were enrolled to Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. Central High was an all-white school before the integration. Leading up to the integration, Beals’ childhood was extremely painful encounters, which no child should experience in their childhood.
In the novel, Warriors Don't Cry, the author, Melba Pattillo, describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination around her, within this book she and eight other African-American teenagers receive in Little Rock Arkansas during the Civil Rights movement in 1957. These nine students became the first color people to integrate an all-white public school hoping that in the future, people of color that live in the same area could go to the same school because they will have the right to the quality education that white families have. The degradation of the Little Rock ' Central High wasn't predicted easy and throughout the school year, Melba goes through abuse, catcalls, and suffering. Throughout this book, it has revealed that
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.
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.
Turning Points are often when something unexpected or something you can’t control happens in your life. The texts that concluded this idea was the Autobiography “ Warriors Don’t Cry’’ by Melba Pattillo Beals, the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, and the Drama excerpt “Dragonwings”by Lawrence Yep. Melba Pattillo Beals, The Main Character of The Road Not Taken, and Moonshadow all faced life changing experiences, that changed a big part of their lives. “Warriors Don’t Cry’’ by Melba Pattillo Beals is an Autobiography about how Melba Pattillo Beals was being escorted to go to school by fifty uniformed soldiers because of the color of her skin. The Turning Point that Melba faced, was when she was walking up the steps into Central High school were angry segregationist mobs had forbidden her and other students to go.
African Americans still had a struggle even when the war ended until they had equal rights. In the 1900 's schools businesses local streets and restrooms the blacks were classified as second class citizens. In 1909 a group of prominent black and white people created a group called the national association for the advancement colored people their was to increase racial equality. In 1955 a school opened were blacks and whites could go together; causes peaceful marches and protest.
In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech about a promise land he was willing to fight for. Living in the 60’s there was racism and inequality among people of color. Dr. King describes the 60’s as a time that is in trouble but he sees great change coming where people will rise up and come together as one. An army of people coming together as one is always stronger than one single person fighting on their own. Dr. King’s purpose was to gain the interest of colored people in a non-violent fight to attain equal rights among all people.
During, the fight for civil rights in the late 1950s and 1960s two men stood up to lead the black community to fight for their rights and their equality. In the 1960’s it was a hard time for black Americans to consider themselves as equals due to the laws in the United States of America. The Civil War had stopped slavery but hadn’t stopped discrimination towards blacks. To help their fellow African Americans, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. both wanted to find a way that could and a way that should help all African Americans receive equality in a world where they weren’t wanted.
Harsh Times Lives for African Americans were difficult. From separation to slavery African Americans endured a lot during the 1930s. There were people that made it either easy or hard for African Americans. There were people that stood up for African Americans. There were others who tried to make it harder on African Americans.
When nine young African American students volunteered to enroll they were met by the Arkansas national guard soldiers who blocked their way. Along with the national guard these nine students were surrounded by an angry white mob who were screaming harsh comments about this situation. On this day not one of nine African American students gained entrance to the school that day. Along with came a later situation where a Air Force veteran named James Meredith sought to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi known as “Ole Miss” where he was promptly sent away. However in the September of 1962 with the help of the NAACP Meredith won a federal court case that ordered the university to desegregate.
Carl Sandburg, a famous poet and biographer once said,” Nothing happens unless we first dream. No matter what you set out to do, you first need to think about what you want to achieve. Without dreams, nothing happens”. During the times of the 1950’s, many people of color experienced various treatments. Whether it was Rosa Parks standing up for herself, or it was Martin Luther King Jr. creating speeches to express his view and his journey.
Since the 1600s, racism has been an overwhelming and significant issue in the United States of America. Before the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans were not given the chance to live the American Dream because legal and social restrictions held them from receiving the opportunities they deserved. The American Dream, the idea of freedom, equality, and the opportunity for prosperity, is supposed to be granted to all Americans, but African Americans were not given this right. African Americans were denied job opportunities, the right to use public facilities, and basic civil rights because of their race. African Americans continued to face this brutal discrimination until key leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., strived to eliminate social, political, and racial discrimination between the 1950s and the 1960s.
The idea of residential schools, the frustration of students in the environment, as well as hatred for the school system would have definitely drove many of the students to continue their defiant behaviours. The fear of losing their language; their culture; and most importantly, their identity, further increased their determination to resist the force put upon them in residential schools. Despite facing harsh punishments such as a variety of forms of corporal punishment, the idea of showing opposition towards a subject that they did not comply with was a much stronger force that drove students to engage in acts of resistance than the force of fear that the residential schools attempted to inflict toward them. As a result of this, many students were able to resist the desired outcome that the government hoped for, in spite of the
Introduction: The civil rights movement of 1954-1968 has made a huge impact on the history of African-American equality. All the great leaders of the movement have gone down in history for their courageous work and outstanding commitment to the civil rights movement. One of the most famous of the activists was Martin Luther King Junior (1929-1968) . King is still remembered today for his legendary speech entitled “I had a dream”.
A Response to Martin Luther King Jr's “I Have a Dream” speech. In Martin Luther King Jr’s speech “I have a dream,” King issues a statement that changes the stake for the civil rights movement into the favor of equal rights for all. According to King, many nationalities, specifically, the African American people are subjected to the injustices and shortcomings of the American system. King identifies some of the sources of the discrimination such as close mindedness, racism, hate, and prejudice.
