Melbas 'Experience In Warriors Don' T Cry

“Life is not fair”. A common saying that is thrown around when times are tough. Do you think that was said to the Little Rock 9. That life was not fair, and this is what it had to be like. There are no words to express the fear, abuse, and hardships that Melba and the others had endured. Living like they did constantly remaining in fear is something of the unimaginable. To me the Little Rock 9 are people we should always admire for their bravery, courage, and sacrifice. Reading Warriors Don’t Cry. I was stunned with each page I read and the more I learned. They went through the unimaginable and faced the unimaginable day by day. I believe that Melbas experience can be broken down into three manifestations of racism. Starting with the threats

Melba talks about her day in school when she found out that Brown vs. Board of Education was being discussed. She remembers hearing of the integration not knowing the suffering she would soon experience. She did not understand the teachers fear at that time. In the first chapter Melba was sexually assaulted by a father that did not want Melba or any other African American children to go to school with his white children. The white men and women were angry with the idea of integration. With this Melba experienced many threats to her home and continuous verbal abuse which never ended. Many were calling her slurs, telling her to go back where she came from, telling her she was not welcome. There had been calls to her house saying that they knew where she lived. She could not hide forever. I believe this is an important part of the manifestation because it was just the beginning. She still at this point was confused because although this was happening in Little Rock when she visited Cincinnati she was not met with the same challenges. That shows the racism clearly. The mistreat that was occurring in Little Rock was not in other places therefore you can see the hatred she was seeing. When Melba first began at Central High, I believe she finally realized how much they were hated and disowned by others. Melba would walk into classrooms and the ridiculing would begin. Students would get up and move seats, laugh

There were many times when Melba was physically assaulted but entering Central High increased opportunity. There were many times where melba was spit on by the other students attending Central High. There was a time where she was run down and repeatedly kicked by the students. Because of her falling and being beaten she was bleeding. This instilled more fear in her. Melba knew that regardless of how bad the abuse was nothing was going to change. People did not want them there. Using her voice was not an option. Melba would not even tell her family what she encountered at school. I believe that shows another manifestation. One day the students were taken to the office and told they had to leave early. They only made it a half day because the police officers were no longer able to hold back the angry mob. Their lives were in danger. Melba overheard people in the office talking. They created the idea of sending one child out to create a distraction, so the other eight could get out safely. To me it seems as if they thought these children, were disposable. If they lost one who cares. These individuals were seen as less than. This should have never been a thought. In the book one of the men says how regardless of their color they are still children and death for them should not be an option. I believe in that time that this would have never gone the other way. There never would have been a