Central High School

enacted change in a positive way for human rights. Melba Pattillo Beals was a very brave individual who fought to end segregation. She, along with eight other students integrated Central High School, which was an all white prestigious school. She was mistreated by her peers, for example, Melba states that on the first day of school “I was trying to escape the hanging rope of a lynch mob, dodging lightened sticks of dynamite, and washing away burning acid sprayed in my eyes” (Beals 1). Melba went through

change. Beals and eight other students were brave enough to attend Little Rock Central High School, the highly segregated school in Arkansas in 1957. Despite the many objections from the segregationists and the Governor Faubus, the nine students were able to complete the school year. During the school year of 1957 – 1958, Melba and eight other African-American students received tremendous harassments from the Central High students, parents, administrators, and segregationists. Beals’ mother almost

students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students’ entry into the high school. Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower

by their side’ (Beals, pg. 57). In the memoir Warrior Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, Beals tells the story of her experiences at Central High School in Little Rock, Arizona. Beal uses imagery to show what her and her fellow friends suffered through during their time at Central. The Little Rock Nine had many hardships through their experience at Central High with the harassment, threats, and abuse on not only them but also their friends and family. Through the story Melba Pattillo is characterized

was the first group to integrate to an all white school, Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Members involved in the group were Melba Pattillo, Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Minnijean Brown, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Jefferson Thomas, Gloria Ray, and Thelma Mothershed. These nine kids were those chosen amongst 80 to attend Little Rock Central High School. Angry white mobs that were against integrating all white schools physically and verbally abused Little Rock Nine

involved in the desegregation of Little Central High School in nineteen fifty seven. Melba has not passed away she is seventy five years old. Melba Pattillo Beals grew up around family members who knew the importance of getting an education. Her mother Lois Marie Pattillo, was one of the first black graduates of the University of Arkansas, in nineteen fifty four. Her mother was also a high school english

Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba is described as a very strong willed young lady. She decides to go to Central High even though people advise against it. She said, “I can be who ever I wanted. I could be white. I could be free (Beals page 6).” She is saying that she should be free to do what she wants and not be fouled because of the color of her skin. She also said, ”We have a right to go to that school and I’m certain our governor, who was elected to govern all the people will decide to do what is

In the exposition of Warriors Don't Cry we are introduced to the nine students from Central High when they are adults revisiting the school. The story then moves into Melba's memories of segregation as a child, and what she had to go through. Then we see her as a young teen who goes an all black school, and Melba signs up for the integration of Central High School. Before Melba went to Central, she was a target for the white segregationists, and she went through horrifying situations. The rising

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

student to graduate from Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Earnest Green, along with eight other African American students, was a part of what was nicknamed the Little Rock Nine, the group that integrated Central High, an all white public school in Arkansas. This integration was a result of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which said segregation of black and white students in schools, was unconstitutional. These nine students attempted to enter Central High September 1957. The Little