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. 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 decided to stay at
Horace Mann, the black high school that was underfunded and didn't boast a very
high graduation rate, let alone much of a college acceptance percentage. Some
out of fear and others just accepted the harsh and unfair circumstances. The
state and town passed laws and ordinances as the school year drew near in order
to keep the school from integrating. Even the state governor refused for the
desegregation process to happen without resistance. Some blacks also opposed the
desegregation for fear of future repercussions. The nine brave students,
however, refused to be stopped. On September 3, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green,
Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown (Trickey), Carlotta Walls (LaNier), Terrence
Roberts, Gloria Ray (Karlmark), Thelma Mothershed-Wair, and Melba Patillo Beals
set off for school. The governor of Arkansas, Orvel Faubus, had sent National
Guardsmen to the school the previous day to surround the building and keep all
African-Americans from entering its doors. He stated in an interview that the
reason for the troops was he heard a rumor that white supremacists were going to
riot and he was just protecting the students. He declared Central High
off-limits to all people of color "in order for their own protection".
The students never did make it into school that day. Before they even reached
the property they were met with great resistance from racist citizens who spat
upon them, mocked them, threw sharp objects at them, and even physically beat
them. Melba describes the deep hurt she felt as for the first time in her life
she saw the harsh reality of racism at its worst. The next day the students met
with Daisy Bates, the head of the regional NAACP, and decided to all walk in
together. The problem was, Ms. Bates had tried to call all of the students but
one girl, Elizabeth Eckford, didn't own a phone. She never heard of the plan and
attempted to walk into the school herself. A mob of people surrounded her and
threatened to hang her all the while the Arkansas National Guard did nothing.
She escaped without injury but Beals and the others realized how serious of a
matter this had come to. The school began to get national attention and the
students were labeled as the "Little Rock Nine". They were nine brave,
young African-American students from honest, hardworking, God-fearing families
who were taking a stand for the oppression that their people had faced for the
past couple of centuries in America. Beals was an aspiring young woman who
dreamt of receiving a formal education and one day becoming a prominent member
of both the black and white communities. Their story came at a time during the
height of the civil rights movements that were sweeping across the states. White
people were beginning to realize that coexistence with other racial groups was
possible and even beneficial to society at-large. Unfortunately, the people of
Little Rock, Arkansas, had not been introduced to this way of life. Some out of
fear, others out of ignorance, and still others out of hatred couldn't stand the
idea of blacks and whites living together peacefully. Even others didn't think
the South was quite ready for the change. Even Governor Faubus himself said that
the state would integrate when the time was right. 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. Beals recalls one of her experiences with segregation in the city when
she tells the story of when she was only five years old and saved up all of her
money in order to buy a ticket on the merry-go-round at the park. When she
finally had enough, she boldly walked to the ticket-taker who promptly denied
her admittance. He told her that the ride was full even though she pointed out
empty seats to him. She fled the park quickly that day, but she never was able
to escape the horrible memories of her childhood. 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 the hanging rope of a lynch mob, dodging sticks of
dynamite, and washing away burning acid spray into my eyes." The state or
local governments did nothing to try and stop this, in fact, they even passed a
few laws that made things worse. Before the school year had even started in
1957, a member of the anti-integration group filed suit against the state
because she was afraid for her children and the children of the other white
parents because the black students were notorious for forming gangs and causing
violence. The court judge even backed the case and ruled in her favor. Luckily,
with many efforts, the federal courts overturned this ruling and the students
were allowed to continue with their integration efforts. Some city ordinances
were passed that forced blacks to always go to the end of lines, wait for the
white folks to finish their tasks before any blacks could begin theirs, and even
if a white person was walking down the street, a black person had to get out of
the way and allow them to pass. If a colored person broke one of these laws,
they could be beaten, injured, thrown in prison and charged with bogus crimes,
or they may even "vanish". 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. Melba recalled a confrontation with a
woman at church whom she had known for many years. As she put it, "I was
startled when a woman I'd seen often enough but didn't really know began
lecturing me. For a moment I feared she was even going to haul off and hit me.
She was beside herself with anger. I could barely get my good morning in because
she was talking very loud, attracting attention as she told me I was too fancy
for my britches and the other people in our community would pay for my uppity
need to be with white folks." Well, the students refused to go down without
an intense struggle. The NAACP, led by Daisy Bates, organized boycotts against
white businesses in Little Rock and even took the case to federal court, where
it became a nationwide constitutional crisis. Churches held vigils and prayer
meetings, and black friends united together in community 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. She felt that as long as
she was humble and steadfast, then the Lord would reward her in the end. 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 quickly approaching, but the students managed to walk inside.
President Eisenhower had sent in federal troops to make sure that the scene
remained safe and that the students made it through the school day without harm.
Men in military uniform escorted all of the students around the building. This
made Melba feel even more different and awkward than before, but she pressed on,
and so did the other students. Even though the guards were with the students,
they still experienced constant hatred and acts of racial violence. Insults were
yells, black students were punched, lockers were destroyed, and fights broke
out. Melba even had sticks of dynamite tossed her way, she was stabbed, and a
white student intentionally sprayed acid into her eyes, nearly causing permanent
blindness. As the year went by the insults decreased gradually, but the hatred
still remained. Eventually the troops left and the students had to fend for
themselves. Minnijean Brown was expelled just before Christmas because she could
not handle the hatred anymore and intentionally dumped a lunch tray on two white
boys. She was allowed to come back to the school for the next semester but then
permanently expelled for calling a white girl who provoked her "white
trash". This gave the white students at the school something to be excited
about. The hate crimes began to happen more frequently. Nevertheless, the other
eight students never blinked and eye or started anything, they only turned the
other cheek in a very brave, almost warrior-like way. The other eight students
finished school that year and one of them even graduated. Ernest Green became
the first colored student to ever graduate from Central High School. The black
students could never have dreamed of a happier day. They had successfully
completed the unthinkable. Even though all of the cards were stacked up against
them, the managed to fight through all of the hate and emerge and winners in a
battle against racism. This was a huge victory for the entire African-American
society. But the war was not over. The governor signed a bill that allowed him
to shut down all four of Little Rock's public schools. The families of the
Little Rock Nine (now eight) students fell under enormous pressure from all
sides. Some of them lost their jobs, some moved, and other gave up. Melba and
four other students took correspondence courses from Arkansas State University
while waiting for the high schools to open. The case was already in the Supreme
Court and Beals knew it was only a matter of time. She patiently waited until
the 1959 ruling was announced that declared Governor Faubus's bill
unconstitutional, forcing him to reopen the doors. Melba Beals did not, however,
go back to Central High School. During the period when the schools were closed
down, the death threats and violent acts toward Melba's family escalated.
Fearing her life, Melba moved to California to live in a safer environment where
she could continue working Toward her educational dreams. The members of the
Little Rock Nine, along with help from their family members, community,
churches, and national organizations proved that although some people will go to
great lengths in order to prevent desegregation, with hard work and
determination, and a little bit of luck, things can and will get better. They
were part of a stepping stone that helped the civil rights movement to take off
and eventually led to complete integration of all ethnic groups in America. The
definition of a warrior is "one who is engaged in or experienced in battle,
or in the military life; a soldier; a champion". Melba Beals proved to be a
warrior throughout all of the events that surrounded the integration of Central
High School. Although she eventually had to leave town, she and the other eight
students showed true bravery and courage when they decided to scale the walls of
segregation and end the oppression of the white people in Little Rock. Beals was
truly woman who fought hard and kept her faith in route to becoming a
"warrior" and eventually a "champion" in the fight for civil
rights.

Bibliography
Beals, Melba Patillo. "Warriors Don't Cry." Pocket Books. (February
1995). Cozzens, Lisa. "The Civil Rights Movement 1955-1965." African
American History. http://fledge.watson.org/~lisa/ blackhistory/civilrights-55-65
(25 May 1998).