ol something to be excited about. The hate crimes began to happen morefrequently. Nevertheless, the other eight students never blinked and eye or startedanything, they only turned the other cheek in a very brave, almost warrior-like way. Theother eight students finished school that year and one of them even graduated. ErnestGreen became the first colored student to ever graduate from Central High School. Theblack students could never have dreamed of a happier day. They had successfullycompleted the unthinkable. Even though all of the cards were stacked up against them, themanaged to fight through all of the hate and emerge and winners in a battle against racism.This was a huge victory for the entire African-American society. But the war was notover. The governor signed a bill that allowed him to shut down all four of Little Rock'spublic schools. The families of the Little Rock Nine (now eight) students fell underenormous pressure from all sides. Some of them lost their jobs, some moved, and othergave up. Melba and four other students took correspondence courses from Arkansas StateUniversity while waiting for the high schools to open. The case was already in theSupreme Court and Beals knew it was only a matter of time. She patiently waited until the1959 ruling was announced that declared Governor Faubus's bill unconstitutional, forcinghim to reopen the doors. Melba Beals did not, however, go back to Central High School.During the period when the schools were closed down, the death threats and violent actstoward Melba's family escalated. Fearing her life, Melba moved to California to live in asafer environment where she could continue working Toward her educational dreams. Themembers of the Little Rock Nine, along with help from their family members, community,churches, and national organizations proved that although some people will go to greatlengths in order to prevent desegregation, with hard work and determination, and a littlebit of...
