Social Influence In Melba Pattilo Beals 'Warriors Don' T Cry

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

1) Melba Patillo- “Nobody presents you with a handbook when your teething and says ‘Here’s how you must behave as a second class citizen.’ Instead, the humiliating expectations and traditions of segregation creep over you slowly stealing a teaspoonful of your self esteem each day.” (Page 3)

Segregation had had many effects on the black nation, to the point that it started building up ones character, “See the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness towards white people”, King shows readers that segregation is even affecting little children, that it is starting to build up a young girls character and is contributing to the child developing hatred “bitterness” towards the white Americans. King makes readers imagine a black cloud settling in a young girls brain mentally, when instead she should have an image of a colorful blue sky with a rainbow, isn’t that suppose to be part of a 6 year-old’s imagination? King gives readers an image of destruction civil disobedience had created in the black community, especially in the young innocent little children.

Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.

Being a teenager, that's tough. But being someone who is expected to single-handedly break racial barriers, thats all around near impossible. In the story, “Warriors Don't Cry” by Melba Pattillo Beals, she portrays how she had to be a leader in integration, while being a high schooler at the same time. In her story, she uses figurative language, such as irony and similes, to enhance some of her most difficult times. Through her use of figurative language, the reader is opened up to how Melba uses figurative language throughout her story to emphasise her hardships and struggles, and how she imagines a hopeful future.

“If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds.” - Jesse Jackson. In 1957, nine black students were chosen to integrate into Central High School, a completely white school mostly made up of segregationists. Throughout the next year, the main character, Melba Pattillo Beals, in her memoir, “Warriors Don’t Cry”, shows her difficult adventure in Central High, trying to survive from the malicious segregationists. Beals uses different forms of figurative languages, such as metaphors, similes, and irony to show her struggles, but also imagine a hopeful future later to come.

Tariq Ali once said, “It was civil disobedience that won them their civil rights.” In Melba Pattillo Beals’ narrative, “ Warriors Don’t Cry,” Melba defies all odds just by integrating to the all white Central High School in Little Rock. Through her novel, Melba is able to reminisce on the difficulties and struggles and the justice and inequality that occurs throughout Central High using figurative language. Though the author’s use of metaphors, similes and situational irony, the reader is able to pick up on Melba’s determination and obstacles she had to face in order to conquer and overcome integrating into Central High School.

In Ralph Ellison’s short story “Battle Royal,” the experiences of a Black narrator, specifically those molded by the brutal hands of anti-black violence, paint a pessimistic outlook on race relations and the ability for marginalized individuals to overcome the oppressive structures embedded in civil society. To construct this commentary, the text employs symbolism to communicate the ways in which systemic and structural anti-blackness suppresses and oppresses Black communities.

A sixteen year old girl becomes a warrior when in 1954 the Supreme Court ruled Brown v. Board of Education; there Melba and eight other teenagers are chosen to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School. A warrior is a person who is brave or experienced solider or fighter. Young Melba had to become a warrior when walking into the battlefield of Central High School. Melba had the weapons of God, friends, and family; people who stood up for her and helped her through her hardships. “A girl smiled at me, another gave me directions, still another boy whispered the page I should turn to in our textbook. This is going to work out. It takes more time than I thought. But we’re going to have integration in Little Rock (Beals 117).”While being taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by mobs, attacked by lit sticks of dynamite, and wounded by acid sprayed in her eyes, however, she never backed down and became an unexpected hero to many. Thesis statement……………

Have you ever faced a crucial turning point that impacted yourself and others? Melba Pattillo Beals from the memoir “Warriors Don’t Cry”, Jackie Robinson from the autobiography “I Never Had It Made”, and Feng Ru from the article “  The Father of Chinese Aviation” by Rebecca Maskel all faced life-changing events. During those turning points, they overcame difficult challenges. Melba Pattillo Beals, Jackie Robinson, and Feng Ru overcame challenges, faced turning points and had an impact on themselves and their countries.

Author: Melba Pattillo Beals Book title: Warriors Don’t Cry. Publisher: Pocket Books City of publication New York Year of publication: 1994. Description: This book is a memoir by one of the Little Rock Nine. It recollects the first year of the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, AK.

Have you ever wondered how far back in our history the world has been full of hate, prejudice, and rage? It has been seen in the form of war, mass genocide, enslavement, and even something minimal compared to the others, like riots and looting for centuries. Despite this common knowledge, there are many forms of violence, injustice, and rage that go unseen. Carol Anderson’s, White Rage, dives deep into the idea that maybe the worst forms of rage do not come from the most obvious and attention-capturing events, but the ones who stay hidden and subside deep in their privileged and ‘noble’ positions. She wants to show you, through the eyes of a minority, what it is like to constantly be looked past and looked down upon. Anderson argues the fact that no matter how many laws and regulations are put into place to cease the existence of racism, the rage in America continues to thwart African American advancement. Through precisely compelling choice of words and a structural design that pulls everything apart only to piece it back together to form a much larger picture, Anderson brings rage, the white rage, into a new and different light. This shows readers the depth of the racial problems in our country through a recap of groundbreaking historical events, advancing or obstructing African Americans, along with the white backlash.

Throughout history, Colored folks and White people do not seem to get along based on appearance.Men and women of color weren't treated fairly, no matter where they're at without being looked down upon. Most Americans have divided themselves into non-mixed neighborhoods. The “Jim Crow” laws on the state level stopped them from entering classrooms, bathrooms, theaters, trains, juries, and legislatures.Also, In the case of “Plessy v. Ferguson” in 1896, the U.S. Supreme court said that racially separate facilities are equal, it does not violate the Constitution. Segregation, the court said, was not a discrimination. Segregation supported the legal system and the police, but beyond the law, violence was going on around the citizens. The Ku Klux Klan, Knights of White Camellia, and other terrorists murdered thousands of African-Americans, to prevent them from voting and participating in public life. In Arkansas, Central High School was one of the firsts to integrate. Nine teenagers got together to go to Central High, they did not go in to protest but to get a better education. The Little Rock Nine didn't see it as a way to bring in violence, but it all started in Arkansas, in 1957, a conflict against two different points of views. However, In Warriors Don't Cry Melba Pattillo Beals presents the idea that emotional strength, Determination, and confidence are necessary to gain freedom and equality for all.

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

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.