Melba Pattillo Beals: Turning Points In History

627 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Turning points in history quizlet APUSH

Turning Points Have you ever had the most important day of your life or the worst that has made an enormous impact on you? Well these people have also had something very a huge impact in their lives and others as well. Melba Pattillo Beals was part of a very important group in history. She was one of the first African American to go to an integrated school along with 8 others.“Step by step we climbed upward-where none of my people had ever before walked as a student.” (Melba, p.18 ) Back then whites thought that they were more powerful than other such as african americans. In 1896 there was a court case called Plessy v. Ferguson, and Plessy wanted “ separate but equal” but he lost. In 1952 there was another court case for the same reason but having african americans go to white schools, called Brown v. Board Of Education and Linda Brown won the case. Then in 1954 they made the …show more content…

“It would be the first time that a black man would be allowed to participate in a world series. I had become the first black player in the major leagues.” In 1947 was the most important day in Jackie’s life. He became the first because the head of the dodgers thought that he would do something for money. But he wanted to make a change. “ I learned that his family was afraid that his health was being undermined by the resulting pressures and that they pleaded with him to abandon the plan. His peers and fellow baseball moguls exerted all kinds of influence to get him to change his mind. Some of the press condemned him as a fool and a demagogue. But he didn’t give in.” (Robinson). He knew that he was just an experiment but he also knew that Branch Rickey ( Head of Team) did it for a good reason. Jackie Robinson made it so anyone can do whatever they want and nothing can get in their way because they are something different that others. So has Helen Keller had a very crucial life changing

Show More
Related

  • Melba Pattillo Beals', Warriors Don't Cry

    2530 Words  | 6 Pages

    In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education that schools needed to integrate and provide equal education for all people and it was unconstitutional for the state to deny certain citizens this opportunity. Although this decision was a landmark case and meant the schools could no longer deny admission to a child based solely on the color of their skin. By 1957, most schools had began to slowly integrate their students, but those in the deep south were still trying to fight the decision. One of the most widely known instances of this happening was at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. It took the school district three years to work out an integration plan. The board members and faculty didn't like the fact that they were going to have to teach a group of students that were looked down upon and seen as "inferior" to white students. However, after much opposition, a plan was finally proposed. The plan called for the integration to happen in three phases. First, during the 1957-1958 school year, the senior high school would be integrated, then after completion at the senior high level, the junior high would be integrated, and the elementary levels would follow in due time. Seventeen students were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be the first black teenagers to begin the integration process. The town went into an uproar. Many acts of violence were committed toward the African-Americans in the city. Racism and segregation seemed to be on the rise. Most black students decid...

    Read More

  • Feng Ru Research Paper

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    Particularly, Jackie Robinson is best known for being the first black baseball player in the Major Leagues. As an experiment, to have baseball a national sport, Jackie Robinson was chosen to be a baseball player. He stood ground as people threatened harm on him. Without the support on him, though, Robinson wouldn’t have made it.

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson Turning Point

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. This was not an easy task for him to do. People judged him and didn’t like him by the color of his skin. Jackie Robinson said “The hate mail piled up” (Robinson). That shows that no one cared to give him a chance to play in the Major League. The innocence of young kids had a great inspiration on Jackie Robinson because they didn’t care about his color they just wanted him to play good. Jackie Robinson was “proud to be a part of a significant breakthrough” (Robinson) in breaking the color barrier. Even though Jackie Robinson has been through

    Read More

  • How Baseball was changed by Jackie Robinson

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackie Robinson changed the way baseball is looked at by Americans. Also, he broke a huge barrier in American History. Robinson helped get rid of segregation. He also, is down as one on of the most respected men in baseball history. Not only a wonderful ball player, but also a wonderful man who went through so much and helped create a path for current and future African American baseball players.

    Read More

  • Discrimination In Warriors Don T Cry By Melba

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book Warriors Don’t Cry Melba wanted to integrate schools because she knew that if they did step up things would begin to change and white people would begin to accept black people as equals. Yes, there are things that were done to Melba and the rest of the kids that could be considered abuse but everyone involved knew it was for the greater good. Melba even makes it known she wants to be there from this quote, “This is going to work. It will take a lot more patience and more strength from me, but it’s going to work. It takes more time than I thought. But we’re going to have integration in Little Rock. (pg.161)” We can see that Melba wants to do whatever she can to get into Central High School and is willing to go the extra mile. Frankly if Melba didn’t stick it out racism might have gone on longer than expected. Melba even reflects on this, “But Grandma is right, if I don’t go back, they will think they have won. They will think they can use soldiers to frighten us, and we’ll always have to obey them. (pg.55-56)” So sending these kids into a place where they would be frightened and attacked was a necessary sacrifice that needed to be made in order for the elimination of

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson's Impact on Baseball

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although Jackie Robinson was not the best African-American baseball player of his time, his attitude and ability to handle racist harassment led the way for the rest of his race to play Major League Baseball, amongst other sports. Being accepted into professional sports also helped African-Americans become more easily accepted into other aspects of life. Jackie's impact in the world for the black population is enormous.

    Read More

  • Warriors Don't Cry

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a young girl, she experienced first hand how awful it was to be segregated against and constantly ridiculed simply because of her color. Unlike most people, though, she wanted to do something about it and prayed for an opportunity that would allow her to fight back and hopefully make a difference. On May 17, 1954, Melba's opportunity began to emerge. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In spite of the Supreme Court ruling, Arkansas did not begin to integrate its schools.

    Read More

  • Essay On Jackie Robinson

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackie Robinson’s ability to successfully integrate his sport set the stage for many others to advocate for an end to segregation in their respective environments. His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception of the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues, he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively, his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate.

    Read More

  • Jackie Robinson Thesis

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackie Robinson did more in his short baseball career than anyone else ever did for the sport. He was always able to push on despite the criticisms and punishment he took from others. No other man can say that they broke the color barrier or that they changed the sport of baseball forever. To do what he did required strength and the ability to endure physical and mental pain. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player. He knew that if he failed to integrate baseball he could delay civil rights. By doing what he did, Jackie Robinson contributed greatly to the civil rights movement. His life experiences and hardships allowed him to leave a mark on civil rights that extended farther than just baseball.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Jackie Robinson

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play on the professional level, he was fearless, courageous, willful and strong. He was an advocate for civil rights, as well as a great baseball player. He had to try to keep quiet, and keep to himself while playing, but became a stronger and more extreme advocate over time. A leader on and off the fields dealing with much more than just baseball, he also had to deal with the criticism and racial tensions of a prominently white game. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a showman who knew how to make money and fame in baseball “he had made a fortune for the cardinals as well as himself, and black talent could argument his bottom line by transforming his struggling dodgers into a power house” (Zeiler, 17). He wanted to make his team great by any means possible. He put his eyes on Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson changed the game and the world, and will always be a huge figure in baseball and civil rights.

    Read More

  • Disadvantages of Black Americans in 1950's

    4048 Words  | 9 Pages

    The particular issue was whether a black girl, Linda Brown could attend a local, all-white school. Linda had to walk over twenty blocks to get to her school in Topeka even though there was a local school just down the road. Linda's class at her school in Topekawas big, the classrooms were shabby and their were not enough books for each child. The all-white school down her road was much better off, better education with a lot better teaching materials. The poor quality education and environment at Linda's school was because the Topeka Board of Education spent much more money on the white school than on Linda's school for blacks.

    Read More

  • Brown v. Board of Education

    1307 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case of brown v. board of education was one of the biggest turning points for African Americans to becoming accepted into white society at the time. Brown vs. Board of education to this day remains one of, if not the most important cases that African Americans have brought to the surface for the better of the United States. Brown v. Board of Education was not simply about children and education (Silent Covenants pg 11); it was about being equal in a society that claims African Americans were treated equal, when in fact they were definitely not. This case was the starting point for many Americans to realize that separate but equal did not work. The separate but equal label did not make sense either, the circumstances were clearly not separate but equal. Brown v. Board of Education brought this out, this case was the reason that blacks and whites no longer have separate restrooms and water fountains, this was the case that truly destroyed the saying separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of education truly made everyone equal.

    Read More

  • The Role of the Supreme Court in the Civil Rights Movement

    1964 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Supreme Court is perhaps most well known for the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. By declaring that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, Kevern Verney says a ‘direct reversal of the Plessy … ruling’1 58 years earlier was affected. It was Plessy which gave southern states the authority to continue persecuting African-Americans for the next sixty years. The first positive aspect of Brown was was the actual integration of white and black students in schools. Unfortunately, this was not carried out to a suitable degree, with many local authorities feeling no obligation to change the status quo. The Supreme Court did issue a second ruling, the so called Brown 2, in 1955. This forwarded the idea that integration should proceed 'with all deliberate speed', but James T. Patterson tells us even by 1964 ‘only an estimated 1.2% of black children ... attended public schools with white children’2. This demonstrates that, although the Supreme Court was working for Civil Rights, it was still unable to force change. Rathbone agrees, saying the Supreme Court ‘did not do enough to ensure compliance’3. However, Patterson goes on to say that ‘the case did have some impact’4. He explains how the ruling, although often ignored, acted ‘relatively quickly in most of the boarder s...

    Read More

  • Historically Black Colleges and Universities

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through out history education has been a topic of many concerns. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were established to try and provide freed slaves education they were not able to obtain. For African Americans in the 20th century attending school was a burden. The children had to withstand long walks to get to their designated schools, being denied classes that the white students had in their schools, outdated books and hand me down classroom materials. African Americans all across the United States fought for their kids rights to get a good education, education provided to white only schools. There was a period of time schools were able to legally deny a student acceptance into their institutions based solely on the color of their skin. Many African Americans tried and majority of them got denied. Students at all levels were being denied, from Pre-K all the way up to college. After many attempts to integrate schools parents of the children being denied education just like the white kids, they realized it would be easier to just build their own schools.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative the Suicide of a Friend

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    Can you single out just one day from your past that you can honestly say changed your life forever? I know I can. It was a typical January day, with one exception; it was the day the Pope came to St. Louis. My brother and I had tickets to the youth rally, and we were both very excited. It was destined to be an awesome day- or so we thought. The glory and euphoria of the Papal visit quickly faded into a time of incredible pain and sorrow, a time from which I am still emerging.

    Read More

More about Melba Pattillo Beals: Turning Points In History

Open Document