Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals and Civil Rights Movement

The term ‘Civil Rights Movement’ previously described all the efforts directed towards the objective of achieving equality for the African Americans in all aspects of the society. The state has a duty of protecting civil rights form violation by individuals. Civil rights are designed in various ways, but of importance to this discussion is from decisions made by federal courts as evidenced by Melba Pattillo Beals in her work- “Warriors Don’t Cry”. Beals is a reporter, who writes about the cruelty that she was subjected to, as a student during an era where there was a movement for justice in education[1].  This work will discuss challenges, and the advantages are facing the civil rights movement with the view of Beals’s experiences in the story of ‘Warriors Don’t Cry.’

The perception of people concerning different races will always cloud their judgment and the way that they will behave throughout. Beals is a black American who grows up in an all-black community segregated from the white people, who enjoy more privileges and basic rights than the blacks do. This explains why Beals and other eight (Little Rock Nine Group) of her friends had the desire to join the white school (Central High school). Their efforts to join Central High School are faced with a lot of resistance. The number of black students to be integrated into white schools is reduced to prevent escalating violence.  Moreover, lawsuits are filed in court in a bid to stop black students from joining the school. Beals’s study attracts a lot of conflict from other students. A group of white boys in the school cafeteria, for example, attacks Minnijean, and the events build up to her expulsion. For example, “the white boys celebrate that one ‘nigger’ was down[2].’’ This phrase proves that there is a system of Beals’s narration, which both the white and the black individuals acknowledge. The blacks are the victims of suffrage caused by the whites, who fear that they may be overthrown. The blacks also contribute to the continuity of the system due to fear of payback for rising. There is a lot of hatred emanating from the mistrust created by this fear. This, therefore, provides a major hindrance to the efforts of achieving equality for all. People will always have prejudices and racism will be difficult to eradicate.

Political systems and factors provide a major problem towards the realization of the purposes of civil rights movement. Beal, in ‘'Warriors Don’t Cry’’, talks of “Brown v. the Board of Education that was a ruling of integration by the court that was subject to various political forces. ’Governor Faubus sends his Arkansas guards to the school to prevent the black students from entering the school[3]. Judge Ronald orders the black students to be allowed to attend school days after. President Eisenhower conducts a meeting with this governor, which fails to meet the purpose of creating harmony, and he decides to deploy Airborne Division of war heroes to the school. This was after the Governor had threatened an up rise in violence, before withdrawing his troops. There is a lot of political interference in the Civil rights Movement, some of which provide a major obstacle towards the accomplishment of equality. 

Civil rights’ objective of equality will help to integrate a group of people in the long term. It is through integration; (brought by equality) that Beals can socialize with the white people in her school. It is true that people can make decisions based on other values like love, other than race. Link was a white boy who rescued Beals from her tormentors. Link is attracted to Beals, and as a result, he warns her of the impending plans by her segregationists. Link’s love for black persons is humanized by his love for his black nanny, Nana Healey. Beals is convinced that she can put her trust in some of the white people. We also see Beals getting married to John who was a white soldier. Link is furious when he is informed that Beals is married to a white man because it was uncharacteristic of her to date a white man as she always maintained. The rules of the game are changing as we can see Beals trying to relate to people based on their opinions rather than race, outside the circle racial discrimination build by history[4]. Civil Rights Movement is trying to bridge the gap in the racial differences set up by the community, which will provide a fair ground of interaction among the human race.

The meaning of civil rights has evolved to give the impression of true equality to all, irrespective of their race and other characteristics that differentiate a group of people. These rights are important in providing equal treatment to all human beings. The discrimination of the blacks by the whites in Beals’s book represents the unequal treatment of individuals in various sectors like employment and public resources[5]. This unfair treatment is what civil rights aim to abolish. The government is responsible for protecting civil rights within a state, and it must do so when required, to reduce conflict. This is however not the solution because the real solution lies in people acknowledging the differences in individuals and accepting them for whom they are.     

Civil Rights Movement represents the need for equality irrespective of one’s gender, race, and religion and so on. Beals along with other black students made the decision of standing up against violent threats and match up to the integration challenge. The students had a common goal which was to bring about equality and justice regardless of the existing segregated society. But even more important was the fact that the individuals owned rather strong ideologies. However, the fearless young students later discovered that the integration represented a major struggle for them to stay alive given that Little Rock’s Segregationists rioted and persistently declined to obey the set laws. For them to attend the Little Rock’s Central High School for whites, Beals and her nine black friends were forced to face the type of mob cruelty that constrained President Eisenhower to assign combat soldiers to offer then protection. Under the examination of reporters from the global context who had to be present to examine the rioting mobs obstruct her admission to Central High and Little Rock’s crisis eruption, Beals being only fifteen years old was forced to learn skillful integration with the media which triggered her interest to pursue a journalism career[6].

Civil rights movement is all about the attempt assert wellness even though the condition demands otherwise. Segregation based on race is an act that led to undesirable consequences among the black community not only by being denied their natural rights but that did not stop them from being objective. For example, Grandma India helps Beals learn about inactive confrontation. This meant that she should confront even the most severe attack with a smile and demonstrate gratitude at all times. This clearly shows that power is not on one’s physical strength but it is more of having faith and inner determination not to quit. The white people riot in mob as they find power in numbers in the quest of conquering a small black populace which makes it clear that they do not own the power they claim to have. Beals shows that one is only a victim of segregation only if they give their consent and thus unless she gives the white the permission they cannot harm her. The humble act of rejecting fear when civil rights changes are threatening by the ruling group leads to equality and a successful reform. Beals’s unending commitment to reformation through Civil Rights Movement best illustrates that equality, not a choice but it must be fought for by those that desire it. As a black student segregation had not only shadowed her freedom but the ability to integrate with the rest of the world. The approach also demonstrates that Civil Rights Movements are advantageous as it secures the wellness of the vulnerable groups such as the black community. Media attention also plays part in exposing the crisis in general thus lighting the strong ideologies.

Civil rights goal is to challenge the existing power dynamic that places certain groups at the disadvantage. The south was characterized by intense segregation where the white was powerful while the black people held no rights. The defiance act by the young black students getting admitted at the white school presented such an authoritative significance since it threatened to transform the manner in which white segregationists exercised their control. With the movements along with other resistance activities, the integrationists led by Beals demonstrated that the influence and control of the white segregationists was only a delicate delusion[7]. Beals’s experience and struggle to create reform that incorporated equality clearly demonstrates that the authority held by the whites was mainly fueled by the black community consent. In that ones, the black people began to resist and withdrew theirs even in small populations the power organization began to decrease.

In summing up, Civil Rights Movement can never be successful if those that desire change never acknowledges the existing issue. In that throughout the narrative individual’s observation of racial differences hinders their will for change. Beals is raised in a segregated environment where the black community does not even enjoy basic rights while the whites do. From the story, it is evident that the system is fully approved both by the black and white people. It is obvious that fear can drive segregation since the blacks approved of the segregated system simply because they feared vengeance from whites[8]. While the whites fear that their privileged lives will be taken by the blacks if they fought successfully for change, blacks cannot afford to be punished by the rulers as whites. The shared fear leads to the rise of hatred threatening violence. Even though Beals has justified reasons to mistreat the whites she learns from the movement that other than trust reform is a choice that can be made passively without having to be violent or causing harm. In other words, the Civil rights aim is to create stability and encourage togetherness rather than proving to be superior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. United States: Washington Square Press, 1995.

Christensen, Linda. Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature and Our lives. N.D.  Retrieved from: https://zinnedproject.org/materials/warriors-dont-cry-teaching-activity/

Curless, Renae. Warriors Don’t Cry and Protest in the Civil Rights Movement. George Washington Carver school of Engineering and science, 2018. Retrieved from: http://theteachersinstitute.org/sites/default/files/17.3.04%20-%20unit.pdf

Sparknotes. Warriors Don’t Cry Plot Overview. 2017. (Accessed February 17, 2018). Retrieved from: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/warriorsdontcry/summary/

 

[1] Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. (United States: Washington Square Press, 1995).

[2] Sparknotes. Warriors Don’t Cry Plot Overview. 2017. Sparknotes (1).

[3] Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. (United States: Washington Square Press, 1995).

[4] Beals, Melba Pattillo. Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. (United States: Washington Square Press, 1995).

[5] Christensen, Linda. Warriors Don’t Cry: Connecting History, Literature and Our lives. N.D 1-1.

[6] Curless, Renae. Warriors Don’t Cry and Protest in the Civil Rights Movement. (George Washington Carver school of Engineering and science, 2018). 19.

[7] Curless, Renae. Warriors Don’t Cry and Protest in the Civil Rights Movement. (George Washington Carver school of Engineering and science, 2018). 19

[8] Curless, Renae. Warriors Don’t Cry and Protest in the Civil Rights Movement. (George Washington Carver school of Engineering and science, 2018). 19