Little Rock Nine Research Paper

Walker’s essay shows the dehumanization and abuse that black women have endured for years. She talks about how their creativity was stifled due to slavery. She also tells how black women were treated more like objects than human beings. They entered loveless marriages and became prostitutes because of the injustice upon them. Walker uses her mother’s garden to express freedom, not only for her but for all the black women who had been wronged. Walker described her mother as radiant when she was planting, her work outshining the wrongdoings done to her and the people before her. The garden was where her mother could make truly make “art.” The garden was also a representation of the creativity of the women who hold a talent close to their heart

In the book Warriors Don 't Cry, Melba and her friends integrate into Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Melba and her friends experiences troubles as she tries to survive integration. Beals reveals a lot of things that would gives hint to things that we see ahead. The book mainly focuses on the south, light has been shed on events in the north around the same time when the Little Rock Nine (Bars) integrated. This essay will make inferences that show how people in the southern schools will continue to be ruthless and slow acceptance for the nine and for the north schools how whites will except African-Americans more.

Starr Carter, the protagonist of Angie Thomas’s young adult novel, The Hate U Give, epitomizes the subversion of cultural racial oppression through the development of an identity that encompasses multiple consciousnesses. As an African American teenage girl raised in a middle-class family attending a high school with primarily White upper-class students, Starr finds the need to prove her belongingness to both communities in Garden Heights and at Williamson Prep. Unlike her White upper-class counterparts at Williamson and African American middle-to-low-class counterparts in Garden Heights, Starr’s identity is multifaceted. She must act and interact with her peers with respect to her location, in other words, utilize double consciousness. However,

The story of the Little Rock Nine takes place in the Spring of 1957, and there were 517 African American students who lived in the Central High School District located in Little Rock, Arkansas. Although, eighty students took an interest in accompanying Central during the fall semester. These African American students had the opportunity to be interviewed by the Little Rock School Board. Out of the results of the interview, seventeen of the eighty African American students were eligible to attend Central High School. As the Central High School fall semester began, only nine of the seventeen students decided to attend Central High School. The over eight remained at Horace Mann High School, an all-black high school. On September 25, 1957, nine African American students known as the “Little Rock Nine” attended Central High School.

“They found themselves in the middle of a tug a war between federal and state power”(Kirk). The students hunger for equality sparked a change that would affect America greatly. Little Rock Nine inspired many African Americans to stand up for themselves and stand against racism. They also helped desegregate schools which later lead to the desegregation of other public areas. Little Rock Nine was an inspiration to the 1960’s as seen through their background, impact, and contributions.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” This quote by Eleanor Roosevelt says that to grow as a person, someone must first be scared. People also have to do what they think is impossible to grow. The Little Rock Nine, who integrated Central High, were scared for their lives every day of their high school experience at Central High. The ideas shown in this quote are expressed in the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Patillo Beals. Melba Patillo Beals was a member of the Little Rock Nine. Beals highlights conflict and metaphor in her novel and displays examples of Eleanor Roosevelt’s beliefs in action.

The book, “Fire from the Rock” by Sharon M. Draper is a historical fiction highlighting the life of an African American family during the year 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Sylvia Patterson, a fifteen-year-old, is invited to be in the first group of African-Americans to integrate into the all-white school. The story follows her life leading up to, and prior that invitation. She goes through many struggles through this rough period of her life. The theme of the horrors of racism is displayed throughout the book through the character Sylvia.

Melba Pattillo Beals wrote Warriors Don’t Cry as a memoir of her battle to integrate Little Rock’s Central High. The nonfictional story focuses on the life of Melba Pattillo Beals, one of the nine teenagers chosen to integrate central high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Being threatened and harassed by her school mates while her own community ignore her during her attempt to bring equality in Arkansas is heartbreaking as her remarkable story is displayed in this book. There are lots of literary elements used to create this memoir as they help the writing spring to life. Some of them are: first point of view, conflict, plot, theme, symbolism etc. The central theme is courage and overcoming racism and social injustice.

Moreover, The book “Warriors Don 't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock 's Central High” by Melba Pattillo Beals is a history packed memoir that every American should read. This book allows the reader to step inside the world of Melba’s childhood and the racism of the 1950s. That’s why this was written, to show the hardships of the Little Rock Nine and every African American going through pure racism. Melba writes this in a way that appreciates her courage and bravery to fight for her rights and to be treated with utmost respect. This book is an inspiration to anyone who feels rejected or accepted for who they are. Melba shares her story and what she did to overcome the intense obstacles that tried to prevent her from an equal education. Beals was interviewed about her memoir and is quoted saying "Until I am welcomed everywhere as an equal simply because I am human, I remain a warrior on a battlefield that I must not leave. I continue to be a warrior who does not cry but who instead takes action. If one person is denied equality, we are all denied equality." This book was her purpose to continue the fight for equality and injustice that African Americans go

Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America was written by Mamie Till-Mobley, a supporter of equal opportunities for different ethnicities. Christopher Benson, a writer and lawyer, assisted Mamie Till-Mobley as a co-author in her personal biography. Death of Innocence was published in the year 2003 by Random House in New York. This memoir has 290 pages, including seven pages of Christopher Benson’s personal experiences with Mamie Till-Mobley in the afterword. Death of Innocence is categorized as an adult nonfiction book. Mamie specifically wrote this book to tell her son’s story, representing hope and forgiveness, which revealed the sinister and illegal punishments of the south. She wanted to prevent this horrendous tragedy from happening to others. The purpose of the book was to describe the torment African Americans faced in the era of Jim Crow. It gives imagery through the perspective of a mother who faced hurt, but brought unity to the public, to stand up for the rights of equal treatment. This book tells how one event was part of the elimination of racial segregation. A murder brought unity to a public who were always stepped over.

The film, Eyes on the Prize: Fighting Back, Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is put to the test. During the Supreme Court case of Brown Vs The Board of Education, many people fought for schools to end segregation of the students. This means that black and white students would attend the same schools together. The Supreme Court case made its final decision and made it illegal to segregate students. Central High School was the school that let black students in first. The NAACP let in 9 black students at Little Rock and they were called the Little Rock Nine. Even though many people fought to not have them there, President Eisenhower fought to keep them there. This led to an uproar from the community and a lot of violence. At one point the governor even has to call out the national guard and the students had to be escorted to class by police. By the end of the film, only one black student is left to graduate

In 1957, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas’s decision, segregation in public education violated the Fourteen Amendment, but Central High School refused to desegregate their school. Even though various school districts agreed to the court ruling, Little Rock disregarded the board and did not agree to desegregate their schools, but the board came up with a plan called the “Blossom plan” to form integration of Little Rock High despite disputation from Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. Desegregating Central high encountered a new era of achievement of black folks into the possibility of integrating public schools, and harsh resistance of racial integration.

“It was” she said “the longest block I ever walked in my whole life.” The Little Rock Nine, used continued effort to achieve difficulties they faced. They had a strong feeling about something they wanted to do, and they accomplished this by not giving up and pushing forward. The Nine students used perseverance, passion, and bravery to become the first black students to go to an all-white school in 1957.

For many people school is something they take for granted, but for Elizabeth Eckford it wasn’t that easy. When Elizabeth got to Central there was a large mob of protesters trying to keep her from entering Central. Even though she felt helpless there was a large group of news reporters who captured the event. Benjamin Fine who was a New York news reporter said, “It’s one of these almost incredible things, to see normal people, many of them-most of them-churchgoers, and if you’d get them in their homes, they would be the kindest, nicest people, but in a mob group, something happens when that group gets together” (LRG 1957 7). The news reporters showed the world how bad Little Rock had gotten which made many people aware of the events in Little Rock. Even though the news could show many people the events happening, they didn’t always report the news

Civil rights, political and social freedom and equality, something many African Americans had to fight for. There were boycotts, sit-ins, teach-ins, freedom riders and many other events where people took a stand and stood their ground, but the one that really caught the attention of others was the Little Rock Nine. All the different situations where people were fighting against Jim Crow Laws started with something that was most likely over equality. These students were all about fighting for an equal education, and believed they should be taught in the same room, with the same lessons, and with the same teachers as any other white student.