I had often wondered how Ruby Bridges felt in the moment that she first arrived at William Frantz Elementary School in November 1960. If the name isn’t familiar, the image above probably is — as may be the Norman Rockwell painting of a small Black girl walking with an entourage of faceless protectors, passing a wall on which is scrawled a racial slur. Bridges’s arrival at the school on that day marked its integration — a transition that was poorly received by many in the surrounding community.
This was a 6-year-old girl, unwittingly bearing the weight of a sea change in American culture. How did she manage? How did she experience that moment?
For the answer, we can turn to Bridges herself. Last May, she was interviewed about her experience by a group called the Female Lead.
“I knew that I was going to go to a new school,” Bridges, now Ruby Bridges Hall, explained. “I really did not know who the four very tall White men were. They did say U.S. marshals, but that really meant nothing to a 6-year-old.” In another interview, she said she had thought the furious crowd that awaited her that first day was somehow related to Mardi Gras. In the interview from last year, she also recalled that some in the crowd brought a child-sized coffin in which had been placed a small Black doll.
What’s most remarkable about this now is that this was a recent interview with Bridges. She was born in 1954 and is only 67 years old, younger than about 50 million Americans.
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I only realized Bridges was still so young a few weeks ago, as I was researching a story about the spate of book bans across the country. In December, for example, a group calling itself “Moms for Liberty” petitioned the Tennessee Department of Education to withdraw a number of books from the school systems’ second-grade curriculum. Among those books were “The Story of Ruby Bridges” by Robert Coles, and Bridges’s own book about her experience: “Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story.”
Bridges was in kindergarten when she experienced furious racist crowds firsthand. Moms for Liberty is worried her story is “not age appropriate” for children two years older.
I was reminded of my realization this week when I came across an interview on the same subject with author Kimberly Jones.
Activist and author @kimlatricejones on what she thinks is the motivation behind critical race theory bans:
“The truth is Ruby Bridges, who integrated school, is only in her sixties … you don’t want your kids, your grandkids, to know that you spit at her.” pic.twitter.com/y41yBCXyWo
“The truth is, Ruby Bridges, who integrated school, is only in her 60s,” Jones said. “So what it is is you don’t want your grandkids to know that you spit at her. … We want to be convinced that it was so long ago. It was last night. It’s today.”
There are millions of Americans who experienced life under segregation, the most obvious recent manifestation of systemic racial prejudice. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is younger than Bob Dylan’s first album. If you wanted to vote in a state election in Texas, you had to pay a poll tax until 1966 — meaning that the era of unrestricted voting in Texas has not been around quite as long as Neil Young’s musical career.
Bridges is a member of the baby boom, the massive surge in new births that followed World War II. The baby boom continues to drive much of American politics and culture, yet this aspect of the boom is often seen as distant. The transition to a true pluralistic democracy in the American South is younger than about 3 in 10 Americans.
It was last night.
Again, this is particularly important to consider in the context of efforts to strip discussion of race out of classrooms. It’s not just that the panic over “critical race theory” is often opportunistic and generally uncoupled from the theory itself. It’s that the emergence of the new consideration of America’s relationship with race that accompanied the Black Lives Matter movement is considering recent, not ancient history. That the burden of proof should be on those who suggest that two centuries of discriminatory burdens placed on Black Americans were completely eradicated in a lifetime rather than on those who suggest that burdens linger. That a celebration of an America that has rejected segregation and embraced Black people fully is a celebration of an America that’s younger than my parents.
It is more complex to acknowledge that Ruby Bridges is still alive than to imagine her as that kid in the black-and-white photo. It is more reassuring to distill the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message to a warning about being overly attentive to the color of someone’s skin than it is to recognize the way in which skin color still affects both White and Black Americans. It is nicer to assume that intentional efforts to limit Black political power have been eliminated than that they often remain embedded.
There was another quote recently that I thought was important to consider. Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.) was participating in a ceremony at the Capitol in which one of the first Black men to serve in the House was being honored. Clyburn noted that nearly a century passed between the first eight Black men South Carolina elected to the House and his own election — a century in which Black Americans lost and fought to regain political power.
Clyburn offered a warning: “Anything that’s happened before can happen again.”
FAQs
On November 14, 1960, at the age of six, Ruby became the very first African American child to attend the all-white public William Frantz Elementary School.
What was Ruby Bridges' speech? ›
Bridges' speech focused on her first year at the all-white elementary school, and the consequences she saw as a result. She described her innocent perception of what was happening, thinking the angry mobs were a Mardi Gras parade, and that she was the only kid in the school.
What is Ruby Bridges' famous quote? ›
Ruby Bridges Quotes
One famous quote by Ruby Bridges was from a speech given at the dedication of her new Ruby Bridges Foundation ceremony. She said, "Racism is a grownup disease. Let's stop using kids to spread it."
What are some facts about Ruby Bridges when she was an adult? ›
Ruby went on to graduate from a desegregated highschool, became a travel agent, married, and had four sons. Today, Ruby continues to be a civil rights activist. She established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to help promote tolerance and create change through education.
What happened to Ruby Bridges when she was 4? ›
When she was four years old, her family moved to New Orleans. Two years later a test was given to the city's African American schoolchildren to determine which students could enter all-white schools. Bridges passed the test and was selected for enrollment at the city's William Frantz Elementary School.
What was the life lesson learned from Ruby Bridges? ›
Learning that you can never judge anyone from the outside was the first lesson of that tumultuous year. A second was that we must all “become brothers and sisters.” “We must absolutely take care of one another. It does take a village, but we have to be a village first.
What did Ruby Bridges fight for? ›
A lifelong activist for racial equality, in 1999, Ruby established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education. In 2000, she was made an honorary deputy marshal in a ceremony in Washington, DC.
What motivated Ruby Bridges? ›
Bridges was inspired following the murder of her youngest brother, Malcolm Bridges, in a drug-related killing in 1993 — which brought her back to her former elementary school. For a time, Bridges looked after Malcolm's four children, who attended William Frantz School.
What were the facts about Ruby Bridges as a child? ›
Ruby's parents and grandparents were sharecroppers in Mississippi before her family moved to New Orleans in search of better opportunity. In New Orleans, Ruby shared a bedroom with her younger sister and two younger brothers. Ruby enjoyed playing jump rope, softball and climbing trees when she was a child.
Was Ruby Bridges polite? ›
There were no other children to keep Ruby company, to play with and learn with, to eat lunch with. But every day, Ruby went into the classroom with a big smile on her face, ready to get down to the business of learning. “She was polite and she worked well at her desk,” Mrs. Henry said.
Ruby Bridges Foundation
Through education and inspiration, the foundation seeks to end racism and prejudice. As its motto goes, "Racism is a grown-up disease, and we must stop using our children to spread it."
What was Ruby Bridges' real name? ›
| Ruby Bridges |
|---|
| Bridges in 2011 |
| Born | Ruby Nell Bridges September 8, 1954 Tylertown, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Philanthropist, activist |
| Website | www.rubybridges.com |
At just six years old, Ruby became the first Black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Federal marshals had to escort Ruby, as she was faced with throngs of angry white protestors restrained by barricades.
What is a random fact about Ruby Bridges? ›
Did You Know? After Ruby began attending the all-white elementary school, her father lost his job, her grandparents were evicted, and her mother was refused service at the local grocery stores. Ruby was born the same year that Brown v. Board was decided in favor of desegregation.
Why were Ruby Bridges important for kids? ›
On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges became a symbol of the U.S. civil rights movement. She was just 6 years old. Her simple act of going to an all-white school marked the beginning of integration for U.S. public schools. Bridges was born in Tylertown, Mississippi, on September 8, 1954.
How old was Ruby Bridges when she was segregated? ›
Ruby was the first Black child to desegregate her school. This is what she learned. U.S. deputy marshals escort six-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in November 1960. The morning of November 14, 1960, a little girl named Ruby Bridges got dressed and left for school.
What year did Ruby Bridges go to a segregated school? ›
the Board of Education of Topeka Kansas, which ended racial segregation in public schools. Nonetheless, southern states continued to resist integration, and in 1959, Ruby attended a segregated New Orleans kindergarten. A year later, however, a federal court ordered Louisiana to desegregate.
What grade was Ruby Bridges in when she went to an all white school? ›
First Day at a White School
Ruby began the first grade at her old school. Some people were still trying to stop her from going to the all-white school. However, on November 14, 1960, Ruby attended her first day at the all-white William Frantz School near her home.
Did Ruby Bridges attend school alone? ›
Angry crowds of parents shouted threats at her. For the next six months the marshals took her to and from her school. Ruby had to spend the entire first school year alone with one teacher, Barbara Henry. People tried to hurt her family.
