Warriors Don’t Cry By Melba Pattillo Beals
...he felt as for the first time in her life she saw the harsh reality of racism at its worst. Soon enough the press got extremely involved and nick named them the Little Rock Nine. Beals dreamt that one day she would become a part of both white and black communities and be respected by both. All of this was during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and everyone began scoping in to Little Rock, Arkansas. Most people were afraid of change while others just hated different races. Even others didn't think the South was quite ready for the change. The African-Americans had been experiencing segregation all of their lives. The blacks were forced to use separate restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants, sidewalks, and other public places. In one part of the novel Beals remembers one event where was little and wanted to go on a merry go round, however when she saves up enough money and goes, she is refused. The color of her skin, apparently didn’t allow her to go on. She wrote in her diary at the age of sixteen: In 1957 while most teenage girls were listening to Buddy Holly's Peggy Sue, watching Elvis gyrate, and collecting cindine slips, I was escaping sticks of dynamite. The state or local governments did nothing to try and stop this, in fact, they even passed a few laws that made things worse. The colored children were raised by their parents who taught them to expect racism and segregation and to even accept it because any opposition to the white people meant harsher penalties and even more laws to be passed. This was a major reason why even some blacks opposed the integration of colored children into the white schools and into the white society. They figured that even though the conditions and quality of their children's education was not as good as the whites, at least they would be able to live in a peaceful, non-violent way. In order to get the whole school back to work, and have the kids safe, churches prayer meetings, in efforts to clean up the town and prove their acceptability. Beals held on tightly to her religious views and kept her faith in God throughout the entire ordeal. Her faith in God was her one true hope when everything else had failed her and she felt like giving up. Melba also found strength in her grandmother, who was always there for her in the roughest times. Her grandma always knew the right thing to say at the right time in order to provide support and comfort. On September 20, a judge ruled in favor of the students and prevented Governor Faubus from using the National Guard to prevent entry into the school. On Monday, September 23, the nine black students left for school together. An enormous mob outside was waiting for them but they pressed on. Amidst racial slurs being shouted at them, death threats being proposed, objects being thrown, and human barricaded blocking them, the students boldly marched up to the doors of the school. On the outside, they remained stoic, not allowing any emotion to be shown for fear the mob would become even more violent. On the inside, however, Melba feared for her life. She was absolutely sure that her death was imminent and qui...