One of the best novels I have ever read is a memoir by Melba Pattillo Beals called Warriors Don’t Cry. The book focuses mainly on her time as a member of the Little Rock Nine and trying to integrate Central High School. In September of 1957 nine unsuspecting high schoolers went to their first day of high school; naive to the horrors and hardships that would follow. The nine students were allowed to enroll in the 1,900 all white student school after the Brown v Board 1954 supreme court case that set a precedent outlawing segregation in schools. Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to accompany the crowd of hostile white people who blocked the black students from the school on the first day. After three weeks on September, 25 1957 President Eisenhower mobilized U.S. troops to help escort the black students into school. To show how serious he was Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne. The 101st Airborne division is an elite division in the U.S. Army and is regarded as the most potent and tactically mobile Army division. The Little Rock Nine braved the gauntlet of hatred that was the white students of Central High School everyday. They were taunted, assaulted and kept apart in classes so they couldn’t vouch for one another. Yet, these students finished the year despite all the odds stacked against them. The nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their actions years later by President Clinton.
