Customer Reviews

Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is an excellent book about the Little Rock 9 told by one of the students.

The details are excellent and it gives a REAL account of the torture the students went through, and the depths to which people can sink and how terribly they treat each other.

I was glad to see an account of one of the MAJOR events in the American Civil Rights struggle which did not play down what happened, nor sugar coat it. People need to know what happened, and what it was like for the participants. This book will tell them.

I highly recommend this book.

This is an amazing book, compellingly narrated through Beals' diaries from her youth. Her first-person experience of one of the highly-charged, ugly parts of American history opened my eyes to the reality of and struggle against racism that exists even to today. I was horrified and humbled that events such as those experienced by Beals happened within relatively recent history. I fell in love with Beals' grandma - a woman of true wisdom, integrity, and encouragement. My hat off to Melba Patillo Beals for an amazing, compelling narration of our history. Thank you for helping me see through the eyes of a strong and struggling child walking into the face/voice/fist of hatred.

I have used this book in the classroom with 11th graders with wonderful results. The poignant story of a young girl, full of heart and courage, and how she survives Little Rock's hate-filled Central High School arouses tremendous emotion in the students. Beals holds back little and her firsthand account of the Little Rock Nine's integration to an all-white school is a terrific commentary on human strength and dignity. Social studies parallels are easily drawn with this novel as well.

This work is perfectly sequenced and thoroughly documented, mainly because the author kept a detailed diary during this period. Years later, her diary, plus archived news reports and a great writing style combined to produce this searing expose. It is the story of the 1957-1958 integration attempt at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, as seen through the eyes of a participant, one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba Patttilo Beals.

In WARRIORS DON'T CRY, it's heartwrenching to read of the actual daily brutality and torture of kicks, slaps , spitting, sprays and verbal abuse that these children suffered. The events that occurred at this timne made an unerasable mark of violent racist psyche on the multi-colored design that composes America's people. This book is also emotional because it is easy to see that those in power could have made the transition to integration a much smoother and less painful step into an inevitably better social structure.

This was a hard read. I had to put it down several times because the visualization was just too intense, the bigotry and viciousness too unadulterated. Yet, I think it's something every American needs to read so that the actions contained in this book will never be repeated.

Normally, I find efforts to make our own condition seem better by contrasting it with others in a worse position slightly abusive. It confers the status of "victim" on another, which envokes sympathy and empathy, but is not too helpful.

Melba Beals' book, Warriors Don't Cry, should not be used to show how much more terrible things were for a young high school student in Little Rock than it is for nearly everyone's experience. It should be used as an inspiration that one does not need to accept the role of victim. In fact, a true warrior, such as Beals, will reject the status of victim and fight for her place in history.

In the novel, Warriors Don't Cry written by Melba Pattillo Beals, the plot is set out in an easy to understand format. There were nine black, Little Rock students that had integrated into Central High School, an all white high school, during the civil rights movement. Of course, since most of the population in Arkansas were white racists, the black students were not welcome at the school. The black students endured a lot of physical and mental abuse from white students, teachers, and parents. They had to find a way to fight back without actually fighting. The novel flows together in a medium pace. It challenges the reader, but is also easily understood. The author makes you think about how the Little Rock nine were treated even after you have completed the book. It makes you rethink the way that you treat people. The story takes place in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the Civil Rights Movement. Most of the story surrounds Melba's home and school life. There is a kind of depressing and saddening atmosphere when you read about the Little Rock nine being abused. It makes me upset to think about how badly they were treated. I get sick to my stomach when I think about they had to endure all the pain without fighting back, for fear that they would have been kicked out of the school. I get depressed when I think about how things like this still occur today because some people are too little to get past the color of a person. The Little Rock nine were very brave teenagers. Their names are Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed Wair, Elizabeth Eckford, Terrance Roberts, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey, and Melba Pattillo Beals. They all were beaten, chased and verbally abused by white people and even some black people who were afraid of integration. Minnijean Brown had hot chili dumped on her, others were beaten, and Melba Pattillo Beals had acid,among other things, theown in her face. Even though a lot of horrible things happened to the Little Rock nine, they went back to school the next day, and the next, and so on. We know the pain they endured as it was shown through the eyes of the author, Melba Pattillo Beals. The author keeps you in anticipation to find out what will happen to the Little Rock nine the next time they go to school or leave their houses. You want to know who will harass the black students, who will be nice to them, or what will happen when the guards leave. You understand what it was like for the black community, during the civil rights movement. You can picture what happened to the Little Rock nine when they integrated into Central High School and their families while they were at Central. In the end Ernest Green, the only black senior at Central, graduated from Central High School. Melba leaves to go to California to go to another high school. She moves in with a white family by the names of Dr. George McCabe, Carol McCabe, and their four children. In my opinion, this book is a wonderful look back to history. It takes you back to the civil rights movement, when the blacks were still fighting for the freedom they deserved. In our constitution it says that all men are created equal, but we weren't always all equal, and this book is a perfect example of that.

Warriors Don't Cry is the moving story of the nine Black teenagers who dared
to integrate Central High School. The story is told by one of the
teenagers, Melba Pattillo.

Ms. Pattillo begins the story in 1954 when the Supreme Court of the United
States in Brown v. the Board of Education held that separate but equal
schools were inherently unequal and ordered school districts to desegregate
with all deliberate speed. She recalls that white people in Little Rock
were outraged and while walking home on the date the decision was handed
down an angry white man attempted to rape a 12 year old Melba. Such a
chilling response to the order to integrate is an eerie prelude to the
ordeal Melba and the eight others endured in their effort to integrate
Central High School.

Following Brown the Little Rock School District came up with a plan to
integrate which limited integration to Central High School and delayed the
process of integration until September 1957. Arkansas Governor Faubus came
out against any type of integration and when it came time for Melba and the
others to integrate Central in September 1957, Governor Faubus sent out the
Arkansas National Guard and the Arkansas State Troopers to block the
students from entering. President Eisenhower in turn sent the United States
National Guard to Central High School to enforce the order of the Court.
This crisis of federalism was another interesting story line in the book
chocked full with drama.

Once inside the school with the assistance of the federal National Guard,
the treatment the Black students received was disgusting, unbelievable and
heartbreaking. I literally burst out crying at on several occasions while
reading what some people inflicted upon others just because of the color of
their skin. The students were stabbed, pushed down stairs, slapped,
punched, called every kind of vile name imaginable, and sprayed with urine,
acid and ink to name just a few of the indignities, while most if not all
administrators and teachers did nothing to halt the depraved behavior of the
students. The students were also subject to distain from people in their
own community for attempting to integrate because of the repercussions felt
by all members of the Black community. Jobs were lost, and people were
beaten and shot just because they were Black and the white people in Little
Rock did not want integration.

The courage of these nine students is inspiring and their faith never
wavered. They were literally warriors on the battlefield; fighting for
their lives and their education inside the walls of Central High School.
This is a must read for everyone. Learning or relearning this history will
give you a greater appreciation of the importance of education, give you a
greater desire to seek your own education and/or encourage your children to
take advantage of every available educational opportunity.

Personally, I doubt many people today have the courage, motivation or just plain grit to do what the "Little Rock Nine" did. This story tells of the integration of the schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957, as told from the point of view of one of nine courageous young black students. The author is Melba Patillo Beals, one of the students who actually began the integration process. She wrote this book by drawing from her memories and old journals she kept from that time period, so it is very real. She did an amazing job describing the hopes, dreams, fears and joys of young Melba so the reader seems to be right there during the entire ordeal. The reader will be awed by Melba and her friends' continued strength in the face of utmost hatred and danger.

One of my college professors assigned this book in a course on Race, Class and Ethnicity. In all honesty, the story was probably ignored by many in my class - those who had never faced adversity and probably never will. But to a few of us, it really opened our eyes to another world most people never see or seek to understand. To those with an open heart, "Warriors Don't Cry" will show you that the same emotions and dreams are found in every person, no matter who they are.

Not only do I recommend this book for pleasure reading, but I believe it could be a wonderful educational tool for every age group. Enjoy!

This book had many ups and downs as Melba Pattillo Beals described her arduous story about the integration of Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. Right from the beginning of the book the reader will hear countless times about Melba being punched, kicked, and spat upon. The book opens out with a story about how a white nurse did not give Melba the proper treatment to help her overcome a massive infection just a few days after Melba was born. And just a few pages later another story begins telling yet another tale of the inhuman act bestowed upon Melba. Over and over the book goes into details of what it was like to be a black person growing up during the fifties. Ms. Beals book, Warriors Don't Cry, is not a book that teaches the reader about the terrible racism during the integration of Central, but rather a book used to encourage people to never give up and always have courage. Forty years ago, when the US Supreme Court declared that school segregation was unconstitutional. It was then that Melba and eight other students volunteered to go to Central High. The Little Rock nine endured much physical and mental abuse from students, parents, and teachers. These nine had to come up with a way to stop the torture without fighting back. They all were beaten, chased and verbally abused by white people and even some black people who were afraid of integration. These students were very brave to return to that hellish torture chamber day after day. Through the eyes of the author, we fees the pain they endured and Ms. Beals writing makes the reader want to keep reading to find out what happens to the nine audacious students. Warriors Don't Cry flows together in an enjoyable and easy pace. It challenges the reader, but is also easily understood. The author makes the reader think even after he has read the book about how students, parents, and teachers treated the Little Rock nine. The book makes the reader reconsider the way that he treats other people. Read this book and listen to the countless tales of a young girl trying to cope with the unrelenting abuse she receives while she attends Central High.

I grew up in a small northern town--a sheltered, middle-class white girl. I knew nothing first-hand of the struggles of black people. My only knowledge of the civil rights movement came from newspapers, television, and the occasional classroom discussion. I dimly remember the Little Rock integration fight. In reading "Warriors Don't Cry" what struck me is that most of us back then only saw TV clips of what happened to the children outside of the building. We never heard about the way they were treated inside the school, about the vicious outpouring of hatred to which they were subjected. It didn't much enter our consciousness. It was a faraway world that didn't seem real.

I found this book to be one of the most moving, uplifting accounts of an individual and of her people, that I have ever encountered. It made me deeply ashamed of our culture, that we as a society denigrated and humiliated black people. We shall reap the bitter consequences of what has been done to them for decades to come, perhaps hundreds of years.

But what stood out most brilliantly from this book was Melba Beals' steadfast faith in God, and in her family and friends. That is all we have against hatred in any form. As sad and depressing as this account was, I found it to be a wonderful, inspiring book.

We must not forget the past; we must remember it if we are to overcome ignorance and hatred and move toward an enlightened society.