Emotional Reaction

While reading “Warriors Don’t Cry” by Melba Beals there was a part that really struck me, it was when Melba and her mother were on their way to Central High an all-white high school for the first day of school.  Before that day Melba and her family had read that Governor Fabus had National Guard coming to protect the integration students but actually they were there to keep the students from entering the school. While Melba and her mother were trying to enter the school a bunch of segregationist came running towards Melba with a rope screaming “Niggers, go home! Niggers go back to where you belong!” That part of the book really broke my heart because Melba was trying so hard to make a change in her community and her surroundings and it all backfired on her, but I am really surprised that she didn’t freak out and tried to keep her cool because I know that if that was me I would have had a panic attack. I felt that when Melba was writing this chapter she became really emotional and it might have brought back a lot of old feelings for example when she wrote “I could hear grandma India’s voice saying, God is always with you, even when things seem awful.” That quote seemed to have a lot of emotion because it is stated multiple times in the book. I think that this part of the book was the beginning of a very long struggle for not only Melba but for the entire community.