Warriors Don't Cry

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

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"Warriors Don't Cry" Melba Pattillo Beals was a bright, pretty and very smart young girl. Her dreams and hopes were the same normal things that most teenage girls think about. She lived in a normal family with her mother, grandmother and brother, although when she was younger, her mother and father got a divorce. It was hard on Melba, but she got through it just as she got through many obstacles in her life. In the world today she would have excelled in many ways, but she lived in a time where people hated other people because of the color of their skin and her shin was black. Every day she faced the horrible truth that her life was in constant danger because her skin was different. Even when she was a young child, racism haunted her and her family. She retold a story of when she was very young and had to use the bathroom.

Instead of going to a "colored" restroom, which was very far away, she went into a "white" person's restroom. Even though she was only a child the police were called to deal with the matter. Although the things she went through as a child were tough, it would never be enough to prepare her for the life ahead. During the course of the story, "Warriors don't Cry", Melba went through many changes. At first she was very innocent and really didn't understand the horrors she'd be facing. All she really knew was that she deserved a good life. The kind of life very few black people lived. Although she could never have guessed the danger she'd be in, her faith never let her quit. With the help of her family and her enormous strength, she graduated from Central High and came out more than an educated young woman; she was a true warrior.