Summary Of Warriors Don T Cry

Beatings, name-calling and death threats were some of the things that happened throughout Melba Patillo Beals integration journey into Central High School in 1957 that she described in her book ‘Warriors Don’t Cry’. Normally when you think about high school, you think new friends, first boyfriends, sporting events and college, not having to display a warrior mentality. But for Melba, she was one of the “Little Rock Nine” chosen to integrate into a previously all white school in Arkansas during a time when racial tensions were at an all time high and hatred towards blacks fueled the world. During her only year at Central High School, Melba was a victim of profound racism that she was forced to endure every day. Melba went through daily torture

Danny, her 101st National Guardsman, assigned as a job to protect her, and Link a senior boy who was torn between following the crowd and doing the right thing. Although Melba had these two men by her side, her relationships with each of them remained secret. They could not do anything publically to help her because of their position and reputation. For example, on one occasion, Melba was being harassed by a group of students and asked Danny, “Why didn't you do something?” and he said “I’m only here for one thing, to keep you alive. I’m not allowed to get into verbal or physical battles with these students.” This shocked Melba. She struggled to not let her tears fall from her eyes after Danny said this to her. She had been under the impression Danny was her protector, an angel sent from God in some way to be her guardian, but Melba’s idealism was not exactly accurate. Danny couldn't stop the kids from calling her names, prevent them from hitting her and didn't even count as a witness when she complained to a school official. Her association with Link allowed him to secretly help Melba because he felt it was morally wrong what the students were doing to her but he could never be a real friend to her in public, as it would risk his reputation and safety. Her alliances helped her win small battles in her war against segregation at Central High