Thesis for the book "warriors don't cry"

In the novel, Warriors Don't Cry, the author, Melba Pattillo Beals, describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African American teenagers receive in Little Rock, Arkansas during the Civil Rights movement in 1957.

In the novel, Warriors Don’t Cry, the author, Melba Pattillo Beals, describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African American teenagers receive in Little Rock, Arkansas during the Civil Rights movement in 1957. These nine students became the first people of color to integrate an all white, public school so that in the future, others like them would have the right to quality education that white families of the same area received. The desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High wasn’t predicted as easy, and Melba’s chronicle recollects the unbelievable abuse and suffering that the nine, young, teenagers endure, especially at the loss of their innocence.

When the opportunity arises for a young, thirteen-year-old girl, named Melba, to integrate Little Rock’s, established, Central High School, it appears as a vision only out of a movie theater; manicured lawns, a big pond in front, a place that seemed to stretch for two blocks and even where Elvis Presley had once performed. Obviously, school officials felt that she could measure up to the workload and even the 1,950 white faces that dominated the hallways. She felt she deserved to be there, just as well as anyone else, just as a family friend at church explained, "that he believed Little Rock white folks were ready for a change, and we were just reminding them it was time by registering at Central High" (36). People of her community had mixed thoughts that they didn’t mind sharing and their comments often played with Melba’s mind, as she often questioned herself throughout the experience. One view stressed that those chosen were being set up for murder, others agreed that the only way to take a stand against prejudice was that it had to be done, it had to start somewhere, and chances were, it wouldn’t be easy. One strong supporter was Melba’s Grandmother India, who constantly reminds her ...