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Warriors Don’t Cry Assignment Throughout the Novel Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals, the story of the Little Rock nine was told in great depth. Because of the fact that most history textbooks just talk about how integration of schools was difficult, most don’t know how severe the issue actually was. By reading this novel, not only did I learn the true details of what happened to the Little Rock nine but also gained the knowledge of the personal experience of Melba. One of things I learned in reading the novel was the detail of how awfully the African Americans were treated just because of the Supreme Court’s decision which deemed the segregation of schools unconstitutional. For example, when Melba was walking home from school the day that she found out about the Brown Vs. Board of Education case. Melba describes the situation in which a white man attempts to rape her and explains that the man …show more content…
This violent outburst not only shows that the segregationists did not like the decision of the court but also how they very obviously would do anything in their power to prevent integration of schools like raping an innocent child. Another instance where the ignorance and violence of the segregationists was shown was on the first day that melba and her eight classmates would be attending Central High. Melba explains the angry mob whose goal was to block and attack the African American children from entering the school and how brutal they were. She writes about her peer Elizabeth and explains that the guardsmen “did nothing to protect her from her stalkers. When a crowd of fifty or more closed in like diving vultures, the soldiers stared straight ahead” (49). This scene described again how violent the white mob
Firstly however, before we start, we need to scan the documentation, and see what Elizabeth Eckford's recreation of the day in question events was. The basic story she portrays, is that of her eventful first day at Little Rock High School. Elizabeth was one of 9 black students, specially selected by the colleges authorities, in a bid to banish racism within its high school. The reason Elizabeth was chosen was due to her amazing academic results. So, the plot is set, now we need to start the analysis.
The stories that the author told were very insightful to what life was like for an African American living in the south during this time period. First the author pointed out how differently blacks and whites lived. She stated “They owned the whole damn town. The majority of whites had it made in the shade. Living on easy street, they inhabited grand houses ranging from turn-of-the-century clapboards to historics”(pg 35). The blacks in the town didn’t live in these grand homes, they worked in them. Even in today’s time I can drive around, and look at the differences between the living conditions in the areas that are dominated by whites, and the areas that are dominated by blacks. Racial inequalities are still very prevalent In today’s society.
Warriors don’t cry is a story of the Little Rock Nine who went to Central High School; an all-white school with hopes to integrate blacks and whites into non segregated schools. The story mainly follows a girl named Melba and what her life was like at the time of going to this school and making a stepping stone into desegregation. However this took place in a time and place where white people were still being very racist towards black people. Some say sending a girl into a school like this is child abuse because these kids suffered death threats, being physically abused, and slandered against. There is also the people that believe this was the right thing to do even if a child like Melba’s life was at risk. It was not child abuse to send Melba
Although the main character in the book was white, the author, Sue Kidd, does a great job of depicting the African American culture during the time. Whether it was Rosaleen getting beat up in jail, or Zach dreaming of being a lawyer, this book showed you what it was like being a minority during a time when rights where still being fought for. One of the smaller conflicts in the story was a man verses man conflict, when Lily and Zach started to like each other. Though they knew that a colored man, and a white girl could never be together, they both were attracted to each other. Were they not from different cultures, people would have been fine with them dating, but because Zach was black, it couldn?t work out.
A warrior is a hero, a role-model, fearless, loyal, persevering, brave - there are few that are able to fulfill these standards. Yet Melba Beals, a fifteen year old girl, not only claims this illusive role, but cannot escape it. Through the journey into integration Melba acts as a dynamic juxtaposition, moving from a scared little girl to a fierce soldier, yet never truly satisfied with her position. This conflict arises from her personal, family, and religious values, the impact of integration in Little Rock, and her experiences during her time at Central High. The title Warriors Don't Cry is employed as a command as well as a way of life and later a regret as this memoir progresses.
This novel teaches us lessons as Atticus educates his children about racism, stereotyping and human kindness. Learning lessons is difficult, but especially for the characters in our story today .
The most meaningful part of the book for me, was the sit-ins, a form of protest in which demonstrators occupy a place, refusing to leave until their demands are met. The reason the sit-ins were so meaningful is that it really brought attention to how Americans were segregating the African Americas. Just as if you do nothing when a bully, whites, is picking on you, blacks, they will continue picking on you until you fight back. The sit-ins were a nonviolent way to show that they no longer will or have to take the abuse.
“It takes a warrior to fight a battle and survive. This here is a battle if I’ve ever seen one” (Beals 113). In the novel Warriors Don’t Cry, nine students from Little Rock Arkansas are set out on the battlefield for integration. Melba Pattillo and eight other friends are challenged with starting off the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School. The students were signed up and asked to attend the high school in hopes of getting rid of segregation. Although entering high school may seem as easy as signing in and going to class, the test and trials the Little Rock nine went through shows a true test of determination. Comparatively, the “Arab Spring”, a movement of protests in the Middle East, has caused controversy all over the world. Citizens are rebelling against an unfair government in hopes of create a new way of life. Tired of all the disrespect, unjust, and oppressive government Muslims and Middle Easterners have created a battle of their own. While trying to create a better life for themselves, the Little Rock Nine and those involved in the Arab Spring uprisings have stepped on to the battlefield for fair human rights.
One significant theme that is present throughout the story is the one of unequal rights for African Americans. One instance of social injustice is described in the very beginning of the novel when the reader first learns about Dorcas’ murder. The book explains that Alice knew she would get nowhere even if she chose to prosecute Joe, because lawyers could not help and cops would not help or even take a black on black crime seriously. Had Dorcas been a murdered white girl I am sure that Joe would have been thrown in jail t...
A example of this is the trial, the death of grandma, and grandpa's outlook on the south: “Our way of life is precious. It's the way I live, the way my daddy lived, my granddaddy, and his daddy before him. It's going to be the way you live too, if I have anything to say about it” (Crowe, 11). Grandpa has a lot of emotions when it comes to the south. He heavily believes that Whites and African-Americans are not equal, that Whites are superior over African-Americans, and that the African-Americans are meant to be the workers. This is a racist view that goes back for generations in grandpa's family and he intends on continuing to raise his family this way, since grandpa believes there is nothing wrong with this way of life. This contributes to my feelings towards the book in many ways. I feel as if the book was a little too serious and grim for my liking. Some major conflicts in the book were Emmett Tills death and the trial. I felt that the book was well written in the sense that it covered the gruesomeness of the death very well. I think the major theme in this book is perspective, seeing things through new eyes. I think this because Hiram grew up listening to his grandfather and the ways of the south, and how his father did not agree. After the trial Hiram saw racism and the south the way his father
In the book Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, the author describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African-American teenagers received in Little Rock, Arkansas during the desegregation period in 1957. She tells the story of the nine students from the time she turned sixteen years old and began keeping a diary until her final days at Central High School in Little Rock. The story begins by Melba talking about the anger, hatred, and sadness that is brought up upon her first return to Central High for a reunion with her eight other classmates. As she walks through the halls and rooms of the old school, she recalls the horrible acts of violence that were committed by the white students against her and her friends.
When a group of children known as the Little Rock Nine stepped onto the campus of Central High School of Arkansas on September 4th, 1957, they changed history forever. By being the first black students to attend a traditionally white high school, the nine students helped move America toward a more fair and constitutional attitude toward colored people. To Kill a Mockingbird was written during this time period and deals with many of the same cultural issues even though it’s story takes place a few decades earlier. If this were not the case and the novel’s characters had grown up during the same time as the Little Rock Nine, there is no doubt that Scout, Atticus, Bob Ewell, and many other characters would have had strong opinions about and may have even taken action for or against the Little Rock Nine or the Civil Rights movement as a whole.
Throughout the American South, of many Negro’s childhood, the system of segregation determined the patterns of life. Blacks attended separate schools from whites, were barred from pools and parks where whites swam and played, from cafes and hotels where whites ate and slept. On sidewalks, they were expected to step aside for whites. It took a brave person to challenge this system, when those that did suffered a white storm of rancour. Affronting this hatred, with assistance from the Federal Government, were nine courageous school children, permitted into the 1957/8 school year at Little Rock Central High. The unofficial leader of this band of students was Ernest Green.
Whites started to fight back with violence by burning schools and targeting black students and teachers. One white man was reported to have “attempted to set a savage dog” upon one female teacher from the North ncpedia.orgl. They also started riots in front of schools causing parents to take their kids out of school. In The New York Times, one woman was described as follows: “tears flowed down her face, [and] her body shook in uncontrollable spasms” (Students Unhurt 18). In addition to this hysterical woman, chants such as “Two, four, six, eight, we don’t want to integrate” (1) echoed around the school. This tendency of some whites to overreact with hysteria made integration particularly difficult
They became targets of racism all throughout the school. The acts committed against them would be anything from name calling to potentially harmful actions. The author was able to show the uprisings and struggles the kids struggled through with powerful vocabulary and descriptive phrases. Not only was she able to tell the story of these kids but to provide the reader with an alternate universe to dive into when reading. By explaining these kid’s experiences, she showed readers how many things were wrong with civil rights at that time.