Warriors Don’t Cry

Group Chapter Discussions

Defining Segregation: Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-32

1. Melba writes, “Black folks aren’t born expecting segregation. . . . Instead the humiliating expectations and traditions of segregation creep over you slowly stealing a teaspoonful of your self-esteem each day” (3). How does Melba learn those expectations and traditions? What does she know about segregation by the time that she reaches the age of eight? What does she learn by the age of twelve?

2. How do the “humiliating expectations and traditions of segregation” shape the attitudes and actions of the adults in Melba’s family? How do those “expectations and traditions” affect the way Melba views their ability to protect her and themselves from mistreatment?

3. In 1954, when Melba is just thirteen when a white man tries to rape her. How do the adults in Melba’s family respond to the incident? Why do you think they decide not to call the police?

4. What prompts Melba to raise her hand when a teacher asks who would like to attend Central High? Why do you think she does not tell her family that she volunteered? How do Melba’s parents and grandmother respond to the news that she has been chosen to attend Central High? Why do you think they allow her to attend despite their fears?

5. How do the school and community leaders prepare for the desegregation of Central High? Whom do they consult? Whom do they leave out of the process? How important do you think these omissions were?

6. On September 3, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus tells the people of Arkansas: “I must state here in all sincerity, that it is my opinion, yes, even a conviction, that it will not be possible to restore or to maintain order and protect the lives and property of the citizens if forcible integration is carried out tomorrow in the schools of this community” (28). What effect do you think his words had on black and white citizens of Little Rock?

Becoming a Warrior: Chapters 4-6, pp. 33-68

1. Melba’s grandmother likens Melba to a warrior on the battlefield. In what sense are Melba and the eight students warriors? What qualities of warriors do they need to make it through the school year?

2. Is the advice Melba’s grandmother gives her about crying good advice? Explain your reasons.

3. What role does the media play in the crisis over integrating Central High? How important is that role?

4. What qualities does Melba attribute to Thurgood Marshall? Which of these qualities does she most admire? To what adults does she compare Thurgood Marshall? What does that comparison suggest about the way she views those adults?

5. In 1987, Elizabeth Eckford said of her ordeal: “I remember this tremendous feeling of being alone and I didn’t know how I was going to get out of there. I didn’t know whether I would be injured. There was this deafening roar. I could hear individual voices, but I was not conscious of numbers, I was conscious of being alone.” What might have happened if various white individuals had come to Elizabeth’s aid? Would it have altered the outcome of the day?


Inside Central High: Chapters 7-9, pp. 69-113

1. How do the adults who work at Central High respond to the arrival of the black students? What effect(s) do their responses have on Melba and the other black students? What effect(s) do you think they have on the white students?

2. Describe the range of responses to integration among the white students at Central High. What part do you think peer pressure played in determining how the white students responded to the black students?

3. Write a summary of Melba’s first days at Central High. What did she gain? What did she lose?

4. List the ways the author and her family confront racism in Little Rock in this section of the book. Which strategies were most effective? Which were least effective? Why?

5. Discuss Melba’s relationship with Danny. How do things change at Central High once the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division are stationed there?

6. At the very end of chapter nine, Melba observes that "after three full days inside Central, I know that integration is a much bigger word than I thought" (113). What events from chapter nine lead her to this conclusion? Why?


Responses to Desegregation: Chapters 9-12, pp. 107-150

1. What does Melba’s diary suggest about the way attitudes began to change? What kind of small gestures make a huge impact on that process of changing attitudes?

2. How does Melba’s enrollment at Central High School affect her relationship with her old friends? Why?

3. How do the NAACP officials want Melba and other students to respond to harassment? Why? Are Melba and the other students successful in following those instructions?

4. What is Minnijean’s response to the boys who taunted her? Was her response an act of defiance or desperation? A victory or a defeat? What was the consequence of her action? Why did the school authorities respond as they did?

5. Identify the various ways the word integration is used in this reading. What does the word integration mean to Melba? To the other blacks students at Central High? To the white students there?

Responding to Harassment: Chapters 13-15, pp. 151-182

1. What strategies do Melba and the other students develop in response to the harassment at school. What are the advantages of these strategies? What are the drawbacks?

2. How does Melba’s grandmother suggest that she disarm her attackers? How effective is that strategy?

3. In 1997, Elizabeth Eckford was asked why she returned to Central High after her experience with the mob. She replied, “Somewhere along the line, very soon [staying at Central] became an obligation. I realized that what we were doing was not for ourselves.” What was that obligation? How did it shape Melba’s determination to remain at Central High despite the hostility and injustice she experienced?

4. How do some individuals and groups in the black community show their support for Melba and the other eight students? Why are some people in the black community critical of the students’ efforts to integrate Central High?

5. What risks does Link take in offering Melba his friendship? What risks does Melba take in becoming friends with him? Why are Melba’s mother and grandmother suspicious of Link’s motives?


Legacies: Chapters 16-18, Epilogue, pp. 183-226

1. What did Ernest Green’s graduation from Central High School mean to blacks in Little Rock, Arkansas? Why was it a matter of such concern to segregationists?

2. The Greens secretly arranged for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a reporter for a black newspaper to attend Ernest’s graduation. Why were they invited? What did their presence suggest about the effect the nine students had on blacks throughout the nation?

3. Melba writes that “the newspapers said Ernie’s diploma cost the taxpayers half a million dollars. Of course, we knew it cost all of us much more.” What does she mean?

4. Why does Melba come to see her Central High experience as a positive force that shaped the course of her life?

5. What is the significance of the title of the memoir, Warriors Don’t Cry?

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