Homework Question on Melba’s Struggle for Integration at Central High School
- Read the article “Warriors Don’t Cry”, using the following questions to write an essay about the article.
- The questions are in the additional materials. Please follow the questions carefully, all of the questions should be included in the essay. Some of the questions need examples from the article. The article is also in the additional materials.
- What were the different sources of Melba’s strength during the desegregation struggle?
- In particular, who assisted her and her fellow black students during that struggle?
- How did she use her own strengths to spur her fellow “warriors” to continue the desegregation struggle? Give examples from her time at Central High.
- How did whites treat Melba and her fellow “warriors” at Central High? (Give examples from across the spectrum of white behavior.)
- From reading Warriors, were you able to identify generational differences and other divisions within the African American community? Discuss these differences, providing examples from the book.
- here https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i1gup6gjocl9d4f/AAAY1TcOPMaQ9op87P-Rixbka?dl=0
Homework Answer on Melba’s Struggle for Integration at Central High School
Introduction
This paper will identify Melba’s strength during the desegregation struggle in the book “Warriors don’t cry.” It will point out the particular parties who assisted her and her fellow black students during the fight. It shall explore the way in which she used her strength to spur her fellow warriors to continue the desegregation struggle. It shall also expound on how the Whites treated Melba and other blacks in Central High School. In addition, it will identify generational differences and other divisions within the African-American community as portrayed in the book.
One of the different sources of Melba’s strength during the desegregation struggle was her grandmother. She insisted that Melba is no quitter after she was discouraged for being chased away from school on her first day. She hoped to go back to her old high school. Gene Smith, the Assistant Chief of the Police, helped to smuggle Melba and other blacks outside the school when the angry mob of the whites wanted to kill them on 23 September 1957.
Danny, her escort, protected her from being washed with acid in her eyes by the white students at Central High School. Mrs. Jorumn Rickets, a Norwegian reporter, tried to bring the two opposing groups together through negotiations. Even though she did not realize the negotiations, it was a ray of hope. Link, the white boy who gave her his car keys when she was surrounded by white boys at school, warned her of their plans against her. Her mother would rather lose her job as a teacher because Melba would not withdraw from a white school.