Unlike many nonfiction books set during the Civil Rights movement, Warriors Don't Cry is not told through the eyes of predominant Civil Rights' leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks. Instead, although it is expressed by an ordinary heroine, it has an equally important view on '50s life for black high school students during the integration period. Written by Melba Pattillo Beals comes an autobiography that expresses the feelings of the author herself, as a high school student during the integration at Central High School. Innocent, naivë, and eager to attend one of the country's top schools, Melba signs up to be considered in the new school's enrollment. The situation does not go as planned. Not knowing then how her life would change in an instant, neighbors turn away from her, afraid of supporting integration. White men raid her house and the school entrance. Melba's house is swarmed with crushing phone calls from anti-integrationalists. Her parents forbid her to leave to leave her own house. To add to the tension, the governor of her state refuses to cooperate with the integration laws established by the federal government after the Brown vs Education case. Unable to ask for help from the police, Melba has to deal with problems that most girls her age today could not even comprehend. While trying to focus on her studies, students spit in her face and try to beat her. She is treated like dirt, and on some days, she is advised not to go to school. This continues on for years, and Central High School closes to the African American students multiple times. Luckily, the U.S. Airborne Division summoned by Eisenhower, the NAACP, and Melba's local church group created a mission to protect Melba and her fellow classmates. Over time, Melba and her friends gain the respect they deserve, and the school board passes a successful integration.
This was an interesting book... I mean, to be honest, I probably wouldn't choose to read this book, but it gave me an insight on what was really going on during this time. We've come such a long way in public education over the past 50 some years. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in a segregated school, as well as an isolated world, or to have people treat me the way they treated Melba. I have faced discrimination because of my race, but NOTHING compared to the way blacks were treated during the Civil Rights movement. I'm fortunate that we are more racially accepting today... A person's skin color does not, in any way, define who they really are.
