She escaped without injury but Beals and the others realized how serious of a matter this had come to. The school began to get national attention and the students were labeled as the Little Rock Nine. They were nine brave, young African-American students from honest, hardworking, God-fearing families who were taking a stand for the oppression that their people had faced for the past couple of centuries in America. Beals was an aspiring young woman who dreamt of receiving a formal education and one day becoming a prominent member of both the black and white communities. Their story came at a time during the height of the civil rights movements that were sweeping across the states. White people were beginning to realize that coexistence with other racial groups was possible and even beneficial to society at-large. Unfortunately, the people of Little Rock, Arkansas, had not been introduced to this way of life. Some out of fear, others out of ignorance, and still others out of hatred couldn´t stand the idea of blacks and whites living together peacefully. Even others didn´t think the South was quite ready for the change. Even Governor Faubus himself said that the state would integrate when the time was right. The African-Americans had been experiencing segregation all of their lives. The blacks were forced to use separate restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants, sidewalks, and other public places. Beals recalls one of her experiences with segregation in the city when she tells the story of when she was only five years old and saved up all of her money in order to buy a ticket on the merry-go-round at the park. When she finally had enough, she boldly walked to the ticket-taker who promptly denied her admittance. He told her that the ride was full even though she pointed out empty seats to him. She fled the park quickly that day, but she never was able to escape the horrible memories of her childhood. She wrote in her diary at the age of sixteen: In 1957 while most teenage girls were listening to Buddy Holly´s Peggy Sue, watching Elvis gyrate, and collecting cindine slips, I was escaping the hanging rope of a lynch mob, dodging sticks of dynamite, and washing away burning acid spray into my eyes. The state or local governments did nothing to try and stop this, in fact, they even passed a few laws that made things worse.
Before the school year had even started in 1957, a member of the anti-integration group filed suit against the state because she was afraid for her children and the children of the other white parents because the black students were notorious for forming gangs and causing violence. The court judge even backed the case and ruled in her favor. Luckily, with many efforts, the federal courts overturned this ruling and the students were allowed to continue with their integration efforts. Some city ordinances were passed that forced blacks to always go to the end of lines, wait for the white folks to finish their tasks before any blacks could begin theirs, and even if a white person was walking down the street, a black person had to get out of the way and allow them to pass. If a colored person broke one of these laws, they could be beaten, injured, thrown in prison and charged with bogus crimes, or they may even vanish. The colored children were raised by their parents who taught them to expect racism and segregation and to even accept it because any opposition to the white people meant harsher penalties and even more laws to be passed. This was a major reason why even some blacks opposed the integration of colored children into the white schools and into the white society. They figured that even though the conditions and quality of their children´s education was not as good as the whites, at least they would be able to live in a peaceful, non-violent way. Melba recalled a confrontation with a woman at church whom she had known for many years. As she put it, I was startled when a woman I´d seen often enough but didn´t really know began lecturing me. For a moment I feared she was even going to haul off and hit me. She was beside herself with anger. I could barely get my good morning in because she was talking very loud, attracting attention as she told me I was too fancy for my britches and the other people in our community would pay for my uppity need to be with white folks. Well, the students refused to go down without an intense struggle. The NAACP, led by Daisy Bates, organized boycotts against white businesses in Little Rock and even took the case to federal court, where it became a nationwide constitutional crisis. Churches held vigils and prayer meetings, and black friends united together in community efforts to clean up the town and prove their acceptability. Beals held on tightly to her religious views and kept her faith in God throughout the entire ordeal. She felt that as long as she was humble and steadfast, then the Lord would reward her in the end. Her faith in God was her one true hope when everything else had failed her and she felt like giving up. Melba also found strength in her grandmother, who was always there for her in the roughest times. Her grandma always knew the right thing to say at the right time in order to provide support and comfort. On September 20, a judge ruled in favor of the students and prevented Governor Faubus from using the National Guard to prevent entry into the school. On Monday, September 23, the nine black students left for school together. An enormous mob outside was waiting for them but they pressed on. Amidst racial slurs being shouted at them, death threats being proposed, objects being thrown, and human barricaded blocking them, the students boldly marched up to the doors of the school. On the outside, they remained stoic, not allowing any emotion to be shown for fear the mob would become even more violent.
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