RUBY BRIDGES: THE LITTLE BLACK GIRL WHO DEFIED ALL ODDS

Ruby Bridges made history on 14 November 1960 as the first Black child to enroll at William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, an all-white elementary school. Her feat came six years after the US Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in the Brown vs Board of Education case, which declared segregation in US public schools unconstitutional. 

At just six years old, Bridges faced a daunting challenge: Daily taunts by an angry white mob shouting racial slurs. White parents also took their children out of school in protest. One protester also held a coffin showing a Black doll. Yet, Ruby remained resolute, never missing a day of school as federal marshals escorted her. Digital creator and storyteller @myjessstory breaks down the events and why this is such a pivotal moment in Black history.

Ruby attended classes alone, guided by a teacher, Barbara Henry. However, Bridges' parents paid a huge price when both lost their jobs, leaving us to wonder whether integration was worth the trouble.

Further, while many often speak of racial integration as a solution in the United States, it has yet to transform the system. According to a UCLA Civil Rights Project 2019 report, despite an increasingly diverse US population 65 years after the Supreme Court ruling, segregation is ‘expanding.’ Perhaps we can take a cue from psychologist Dr Amos Wilson (1941-95), who said that integration with the descendants of the 'world's greatest criminals and thieves,' those who systematically work to marginalise us, is a mere ‘fantasy’ and that we would be better off building our own nation-states.

Video credit: @myjessstory (IG) 

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/06/ruby-bridges-the-six-year-old-who-defied-a-mob-and-desegregated-her-school 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ruby-bridges 

https://www.epi.org/publication/schools-are-still-segregated-and-black-children-are-paying-a-price

https://x.com/african_stream/status/1879001913590440022