Ruby Bridges - Important Activists of the American Civil Rights Movement - Mini Series
For much of America's history, Black people living in the country didn't have full civil rights, such as the right to vote, the right to use public places and the right to public education. In the 1950s and 1960s, Black people in the United States took action against the unfair ways in which they were being treated. This period in history is known as the American Civil Rights Movement. The brave people who took action to bring about equal rights for Black people are known as activists. There were many courageous activists during the Civil Rights Movement and over the coming weeks we'll be sharing some of their stories.
Ruby Bridges - Important Activists of the American Civil Rights Movement
Ruby's kindergarten
When Ruby Bridges was very young, she went to kindergarten (a pre-school or nursery) like many other children. But Ruby's kindergarten was different - only Black children went there. You see, Ruby lived in New Orleans, in the American state of Louisiana in the 1950's. At this time, a set of laws called the "Jim Crow Laws" had been introduced in many southern US states. The laws were based around "segregation" - where Black Americans had to stay separate from white Americans. Black people had to use libraries, public transport, restaurants, toilets and more. In New Orleans, schools were segregated too, including Ruby's kindergarten.
The rules change
When Ruby was around six years old, a court ruled that schools in America should no longer be segregated. It was decided that Black children would begin to be integrated into all-white schools, starting in first grade (first year) at Elementary School level (primary school). To decide who should start the integrating process, Black children in New Orleans had to take a test. Ruby aced the test and was selected to integrate into a previously all-white school called William Frantz Elementary School.
Starting school, alone
In total, six children were chosen to integrate into all-white schools. Of that six, two chose not to integrate. The three other girls who integrated all attended McDonogh 19 Elementary School. Ruby was the only Black child to integrate into William Frantz Elementary in that first year. In fact, she was the first Black child to integrate into a previously all-white elementary school in the southern American states.
A scary first day of school
Starting a new school can be daunting for many children. But Ruby had genuine reason to be scared on her first day. On 14th November 1960, four federal marshals (a special type of law enforcement officer, like a police officer) arrived at Ruby's house to walk her to school. On the walk, they told her to keep her eyes forward so she couldn't see the abusive messages scrawled on signs held by the angry crowd. Many people had gathered to protest Ruby's integration into the school. Unfortunately, keeping her eyes forward didn't stop her from hearing the insults shouted at her from the mob. They threatened Ruby. They threw things at her. They even tried to block her from entering the school. Ruby was only six years old.
Boycotting the school
The marshals escorted Ruby into the school where she spent her first day sat in the office of the principle (head teacher) watching furious parents marching in and out of the school, taking their white children with them. They refused to let their kids attend the same school as a Black child. This type of protest is called a boycott.
Learning with a friend
By day two - after another daunting walk through the mob escorted by the marshals - Ruby got to visit her new classroom. There she met her teacher, Barbara Henry. Mrs Henry wasn't supposed to be teaching this class, but Ruby's original teacher had quit because she refused to teach a Black child. Having met Mrs Henry, Ruby prepared herself to meet her new classmates - only to discover she didn't have any. With the ongoing boycott of the school by many white parents, the continued presence of the mob outside scaring students away, and the school's refusal to mix students, Ruby was to do all her learning alone. She couldn't go out at playtime or go to the lunch hall. She needed another marshal escort to take her to the bathrooms. This continued for the whole of the school year. Luckily, she had Mrs Henry by her side who taught her one-to-one and became Ruby's only friend at the school.
Back to school
By Ruby's second year at school, several more Black children had enrolled, the angry crowds outside began to thin and many white children returned to the school. Soon she was walking to school without the marshals escorting her and was attending a full classroom completely integrated with both Black and white children. It took many years before schools were fully desegregated because officials were integrating Black children one year at a time. Despite this, Ruby attended integrated schools for the rest of her time in education.
