Melba's The Little Rock Nine

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

Mel is the main character in the story. He is a new student at the school and new to his neighborhood. His neighborhood is predominantly white and they do not accept Mel and his family. He’s also not accepted on the court and his team suffers. The other kids on the team wouldn’t pass to him or his friend Darryl, which leads us into the next character. Darryl also is an African American that is new to the school and the neighborhood. Darryl and Mel are great friends

After her year as a Central High student was over and she was able to reflect upon her experiences, Melba came to the conclusion that the adults that watched the white children torment and abuse she and her friends were simply afraid. They were afraid of change. They were afraid that the social structure that placed them above blacks was going to crumble, leaving them at the mercy of people who they’ve kept down for so long. Most of all, Melba learned they were afraid that once blacks started going to the same school as their children, they may begin to date, marry and make families with their children.

The first way she depart from the black community is when she decided to leave her friends and family and run off with Tea Cake away from those she loved and cared truly about. By doing this she demonstrates that she is pulling further away from the idea of the traditional harlem renaissance. A way that she reflects with the harlem renaissance is when her and Jody ran off and decided to build and increase the acknowledgement of an all black town. By this being shown is supports the idea of them reflecting the harlem renaissance and how the unity of the black community is still alive and affecting African Americans in a positive manner and tone.

Starting her second education, she was forced to drop out to care for her ailing grandmother. With Jim Crow’s Law, heavily in affect, her childhood was greatly influenced by the segregation between white people and black people in almost every part of their lives.

Melba Pattillo Beals is the main character in this book. She was fourteen years old when she attended Central High in Little Rock, Kansas with eight other black students. While Melba attended the high school, she was spat on, slapped, and several sickening insults would be shouted at her. These actions led to Melba to not even fight back but to simply just say thank you and walk away. This was one of the factors that built up her courageous attitude that stuck with her throughout the rest of her journey.

Melba shows courage throughout the book. She uses courage to face her problems while integrating Central High School. Beals wrote a lot in her diary during the rough times. In the text Melba states “ I had never before felt such fear” which is pertaining to the fact the she is depending on Danny to stand by her and take care of her. Melba was frightened by the fact that she was going through something that most teenagers don’t go through. She didn’t want to go through the rough times. As she was thinking to herself she said “counting on a white man to defend me against other white people determined to hurt me” she shows courage by staying strong during the integration and harsh times she was going through. During this text she is stating that she trust in Danny and God to protect her during everything. She was very scared during all of this but stayed strong throughout the times that she could’ve easily given up. Beals also stated “By the beginning of the march, i had sunk into the state of mind you get into when you know you have to take castor oil and there’s no way out.”. She is now entering a march to fight for her freedom and equality. Melba is doing everything she can to protect her color and race from the evil white people. She uses courage to stay strong and to have a good attitude. Melba presents strong courage during her time of fighting for her freedom and equality.

In the beginning chapters of the book, we get a glimpse of the typical home and community of an African American during segregation. Many Africans Americans were too adjusted to the way of living, that they felt

Throughout the novel it is apparent that everyday instances of racism occur, causing people of color to feel outcasted. There are two very obvious occasions where this happened. In the first instance two African American woman are in a workspace of primarily all white co-workers. When a woman they worked with got these two names mixed up, it was stated that she had a “fifty-fifty chance of getting it right” insinuating that these two women are the only black ones working here. Later, the woman who had the mix-up with the names wrote an apology note; however, in the note she stated it was “our mistake” and seemingly put part of the blame on the to women. This is a primary example of how African Americans can be thrown against a white background making them seem different than everyone else.

In Conclusion , you can see how these three characters from the book were affected by racism. All of these situations were a tad bit different but you can see how they often got caught in the middle of what other people thought was right and what was really right. All humans should not be judge of their work ethic or ability to do something just cause of their skin color. We all live on the

On the first day that Melba Patillo Beals went to school, she thought it was a nightmare. There was a huge mob outside Central High School, along with the Arkansas National Guard soldiers keeping them out. The image of Elizabeth Eckford really shows how it was. White people were surrounding them, cursing at them, of course saying the word “nigger”, and occasionally striking them (1994). It was so bad that Melba had to take the keys to their car from her mother and run away to escape. Imagine the sight of Melbas mother screaming at her “Melba, take the keys. Get to the car.

Section 1: It was hard for Melba to get through school. At Little Rock High, nobody liked Melba but her friends. Melba had it 20 times way harder than what we have today. Melba had it so hard she even thought about suicide. Melba only has a brother named Conrad. She lives with her grandma India, her brother Conrad, and her mom.

Race is a very serious matter, especially in the 1930’s for a young mulatto like Peola, in The Imitation of Life. Peola grew up with lighter skin than her mother and throughout her life she has struggled with trying to pass for a white girl. When she was able to go to school she went to an all-white school, until one day when her mother came to pick her up from school. The school found out that Peola was actually white and they had to send her to an all-black school instead. This is what started the rocky relationship between

Throughout the novel I definitely think many of the characters evolved and became stronger as people, specifically, Aibileen. Aibileen started off in the novel, just doing what she was supposed to, she cared for white babies, cooked, and cleaned. When she heard the news about “A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help” (10) Abilieen took it upon herself to teach Mae Mobley about equality and civil rights. As the book went on Abilieen became more and more aspired to make a change so that the coloured wouldn’t be treated differently than the white. By the end of the book she had taken part in a group effort to write her

Angela had made many friends in Junior year, but one she still remembers is Danny Brown. Danny was her best friend, but she was a year older so she had to go to college, and she rarely called her parents, let alone Angela, but she knew and Angela needed someone to talk to.