Ruby’s courage inspired author’s short story
How much love would a family have to pour into the heart of a six-year-old child to offset the onslaught of hatred she would face simply for wanting to learn at an all-white school?
Ruby Bridges knows.
Ruby’s tested on her ability to compete
She endured the wrath of bigotry by becoming the first African American to integrate an elementary school in the South. The US Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education made her quest legal, but it didn’t guarantee Ruby a seat in the school.
The school district where Ruby’s family lived in New Orleans established entrance exams for African American students to determine whether they could compete academically in an all-white school. Ruby and five other children passed the exam.
Perfect attendance for entire school year
Although she was the target of racial slurs and endured the isolation of being taught alone, Ruby never missed a day of school the entire year. Barbara Henry, a white woman from Boston, was the only teacher willing to instruct Ruby.
Mock coffin designed to intimidate
Ruby said the only time she was shaken to the core was when she saw a woman holding a coffin with a black baby doll inside. She ate lunch alone and sometimes played with her teacher at recess.
The Problem We All Live With
Artist Norman Rockwell singled out Ruby’s courage with a painting of her first day of school. The painting was titled “The Problem We All Live With.”
Harsh experience led to two books
Ruby later wrote about her experiences in two books and received the Carter G. Woodson Book Award.
Ruby’s story inspires Memphis in May
As a journalist I would have liked to interview Ruby. However, since I never had to privilege, I did manage to include her in my short story, Memphis in May.
I learned of Ruby’s story while visiting the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis a day after completing a 5-K run in the same city. I was not sure how to complete the short story until I read Ruby’s story.
Thank you, Ruby!
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