Essay on Melba Pattillo Beals', Warriors Don't Cry

1) Melba Patillo- “Nobody presents you with a handbook when your teething and says ‘Here’s how you must behave as a second class citizen.’ Instead, the humiliating expectations and traditions of segregation creep over you slowly stealing a teaspoonful of your self esteem each day.” (Page 3)

Throughout her experience, Melba’s views and attitudes changed quite a bit. When she first volunteered to be one of the first black students who would attend Central High School in Little

[The students] were subjects of unspeakable hatred. White students yelled insults in the halls and during class. They beat up the black students, particularly the boys. They walked on the heels of the black until they bled. They destroyed the black student’s lockers and threw flaming paper wads at them in the bathrooms. They threw lighted sticks of dynamite at Melba Pattillo Beals, stabbed her, and sprayed acid in her eyes. The acid was so strong that had her

Little rock, Arkansas 1957 in Warriors don’t cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, her and eight other African American, high school students integrates Central High School. Only eight of the nine that begin at Central High lasted for the full year. Melba and her eight friends face new wars every day. These are some of the traits she uses to survive her year and overcome her enemies at Central High School. Melba relies on her courage, faith, and not only her physical strength, but her mental strength as well.

The multiple forces in favor of integration were determined to gain access to Central High School and integrate public schools in the south. Before any integration was possible in the United States, the NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was forced to file a lawsuit in the Federal District Court to integrate public schools immediately due to the public and state backlash towards integration (Beals 20). Judge Ronald Davies declared that Governor Faubus had “thwarted the court-approved plan of integration” furthering the movement to integrate Central High (Beals 68). After the lawsuit was settled, the Little Rock Nine was scheduled to integrate into Central High School. However, even after these

Little Rock Nine was known for being nine African American students who went to Little Rock’s all-white Central High School in the fall of 1957. They were sent there because of their “academic excellence and willingness to become racial pioneers.” says The Struggle for Freedom: A History of African Americans. The students were told that the National Guardsmen was going to be there that morning but on September 4th, they soon found out that the National Guardsmen was not there to protect the nine of them from angry white citizens, but to block them from getting into the school. On September 4th they were not successful in enter the school But the nine of them were determined and were not want to give up. So the following day, Daisy Bates, head of the NAACP’s local branch, arranged for them to meet to walk to the school together. One of the students named Elizabeth Eckford, did not have a phone in her home so she did not receive the memo. While she walked to school alone angry crowd of whites surrounded her, when she arrived to the school all alone. She was scared and confused all at once, so she sat tensed up on a bench. Luckily a white woman intervened and walked Elizabeth to safety. The other eight students made it to the school together and was turned around again

During that time the nine students experienced horrible torment and bullying from not only students, but also parents (source #1).They went to the school after the Supreme Court’s decision that segregated schools was unconstitutional (source #1). Orval Faubus (the Governor of Arkansas) ordered the Arkansas to the school to stop the nine students from entering, eventually after the situation had gone on far enough, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army (African American members of the unit did not join their white counterparts until one month after they had originally gone to Arkansas) (source #1 and #4). At the same time President Eisenhower did this he federalized the Arkansas National Guard putting all 10,000 members of it directly under the President’s control, meaning that Orval Faubus no longer had control over the National Guard (source #1). The 101st’s role was to protect the nine African American students from anyone in the school that wanted to hurt them (source #1).

Have you ever worked hard for something that you really wanted? Maybe it was something that you believed in, but had to overcome many challenges? You might have experienced this before. I have come to understand that Jackie Robinson, Melba Beals, and Feng Ru are people who have made history by going through this. For example, Jackie Robinson became the first black baseball player. Melba Beals was a black girl who went to an all white school. Lastly, Feng Ru built an airplane that succeeded in flight. The texts which I read were; I Never Had It Made autobiography by Jackie Robinson, Warriors Don’t Cry memoir by Melba Beals, and The Father of Chinese Aviation Magazine by Rebecca Maksel. After reading

Little Rock Central High School was one of many segregated schools in America, where only whites were able to attend. In 1957, nine African-American students enrolled for Little Rock Central High, and were expected to integrate the all-white school. Their enrolment was followed by an outburst and the “Little Rock Crisis”. The nine students, known as the “Little Rock Nine”, were refused from entering the school ground by Orval Faubus. This was undeterred from the rule put in place three years earlier, where the U.S Supreme Court stated that “school segregation was unconstitutional.” Arkansas Governor refused to allow the pupils to desegregate Central High, even dispatching the Arkansas National Guard to keep the students from entering the school.

Melba Pattillo Beals is a teenage girl who got excepted with eight other kids to go to an all white high school called "Central High". Melba and the other were tormented and threatened the whole time they were there. Melbas family and friends gave her the strength to get through her problems even if she wasn’t wanted at Central High. Melba made some white kids who were different, She was in a life or death situation a couple of times at Central High.

These were the first nine kids to be at an all white school and therefore they became known as the “Little Rock Nine”. This was such an impact in the whole world everyone knew about it and for the first time in years, African Americans can go to school with whites. The black incoming students were received with a huge crowd that was yelling and opposing to them while they entered the school. The head of the governor Orval Faubus wasn’t fine with having blacks in white people’s school so he ordered the national guards with an approval by the court order to besiege the entire school to refuse the African Americans students to come in and stated “blood would run on the streets if black students attempted to enter”. The chief of Arkansas thought that his order to surround the whole school with guards and people protesting was all right with that. But president Eisenhower aired live to the whole United States and said, “mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of the court”, in September 1957. When school actually started the president sent troops and protection to the Little Rock High School to escort them inside the building without having to feel unprotected or unwelcomed to the school. Four out of nine graduated high school at this school and the rest took off or didn’t

They were hoping to learn new things as they were going to Little Rock High. They were being called names and they were also getting hit with trash. The whites didn’t want them to get into the school was being guarded by guards. The guards had to protect them from being hit by trash or being attacked.

Victory was seen months later when the same four students that initiated the movement were served at the counter. Prior to the sit-ins, youth showed their strength during the movement. The Little Rock Nine, a group of nine black high school students, were the first to integrate into an all white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. These nine students, despite being blocked from attending the school by the governor, showed how serious the United States was about educational integration; President Eisenhower himself issued an order for federal troops and the National Guard to make sure that the students made it to school safely. In 1962, success came in the form of James Meredith when he became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Although he was also met with resistance, 5,000 governmental troops were sent by the president’s orders to dispel the chaos. SNCC or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed in favor of youth and inspired by the SCLC. This organization gave young African Americans an important role to play in the movement and increased the peaceful, unified nature of the Civil Rights Movement. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee initiated events like “freedom rides” where student volunteers tested laws prohibiting segregation on public transportation and was not just for blacks, but other people with the same

But they didn’t expected, even though been at south that it would be have such bad rejection by the whites. But the Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas was the first one to protest against the federal law sending the guards to block the entrance of school for the black people. The Federal court had to interview ordering Governor Orval Faubus to stop interfering with federal law and he need to remove the guardsmen from the school. Few weeks later, the nine students entered the school for the first time. But they were so violent that the police was afraid for the black students lives, removing them from the school before anything bad could happen. The mayor frightened of future violence by the mob, asked federal intervention and the President Eisenhower agreed, and, to send troop to escort the nine students to the school. But the soldiers couldn’t protect them inside of school, were they were victim of bulling by other students. The soldiers were assigned to protect them inside of school too. Some Universities accepted the integration of the law too, but the African American students also confronted several violence against them, only been in control after the federal

They attack the new students ruthlessly with little to no empathy shown. They would yell things like "Did you think we were gonna let niggers use our toilets? We'll burn you alive, girl, a voice shouted through the door. There won't be enough of you left to worry about." (pg 119) while viciously attacking Melba. The adults responded with little help or caring for the situation. With Minnijean, they suspended the boys who were attacking her, but unless there was a big ordeal nothing was usually said. If anything was said about the attacks, it was just telling the nine to not instigate. I feel that Melba was absolutely right to attend the high school, because if not her, then who else? Her bravery was astounding in facing the day-to-day hatred. When she attended Central High, she was becoming a face for fighting against segregation, which needed to end. I think people reacted the way they did for a lot of reasons. One being that they were scared. If colored people were allowed into their schools, then they were getting closer to a fair shot in life. Colored people could take “their” jobs and marry “their” women (which is of course a completely sexist and entitled way of looking at things). It was all new to them, having colored people being able to compete with white people. Another reason for the reaction to the Little Rock nine is pressure, from their parents and their friends. It was weird at the time to support African Americans in the south. If you did, you were most likely harassed and hurt. As Link felt in the book, pretending to be against integration was probably much easier than to support it. Parents probably taught racism to their children at a very young age, so that is all the children