The scratches on the tomatoes only became visible after a few seconds. Viewers also only see the N-word, painted light gray on the wall, on second glance. Meanwhile, the African-American girl with pigtails, a white dress, and a school notebook under her arm attracts attention almost magically — perhaps because of the ease with which she delivers tomatoes and expletives, but perhaps also because of the four justice officers in yellow armbands who escort her. Illustrator and painter Norman Rockwell, previously known for his rather kitschy motifs of everyday American family life, was inspired by the protests that surrounded Ruby Bridges over her photograph “The Problem We All Live With” in the early 1960s. The first day of black school in a white elementary school in the southern state of Louisiana, as Rockwell’s work shows, is still considered a milestone in the history of the civil rights movement in the United States.
For Bridges, November 14, 1960 was a day of hatred and rejection. “When the car taking me to school turned the corner, I saw a lot of protesters on the side of the road. There were police officers everywhere. I was immediately taken to the principal’s office,” Bridges recalled. As she spent the first day of school at William Frantz Elementary School on North Galvez Street in New Orleans protected by officers in the office, “Ruby” watched as one mother after another entered the school building and left after a few minutes with a child in her arms. “They pointed the finger at me,” Bridges said during an interview at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
He didn’t know about the battle
The six year old had no idea about the fight that occurred before his challenge. In the spring of 1954, the United States Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The fact that the Supreme Court also ruled that coexistence between black and white students should be implemented “swiftly” caused controversy. After lengthy debate between conservative white legislators in Louisiana, the school administration in New Orleans and the civil rights organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a federal court finally set a final deadline. On November 14, 1960, a few weeks after the school year began, all traditionally white educational institutions such as William Frantz were required to admit dark-skinned children.
The NAACP began seeking African American parents willing to send their children to white schools. The call received a mixed response from Bridges’ family. Pastor Abon, an auto mechanic and day laborer, opposes Ruby’s presence at William Frantz Elementary School. Mother Lucille, the daughter of poor sharecroppers from Mississippi, hoped for a signal effect. “I want my children to have it better than we did. I want my children to be able to go to school to learn,” Lucille Bridges said later. He also recalled the less than friendly reception his daughter received from white people who threw eggs and tomatoes. Meanwhile, Ruby thinks the protesters are people having fun. He grew up attending Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans as a child. “To me, it looked like Mardi Gras: white people and black people gesticulating, shouting and throwing things,” Bridges told NPR.
After “Walk to School” it became very quiet. Because school administrators and parents refused to teach white children with Ruby, she spent her days alone with Barbara Henry, a white teacher from Massachusetts, in a second-floor classroom. The breaks were scheduled so that Bridges would not encounter other white students on the grounds. “Mrs. Henry tried her best to keep me away from what was going on outside. But I couldn’t; hide the fact that there were no other children for me,” she recalled more than 40 years later in a speech at Harvard University’s Memorial Church.
“Nobody talks about it anymore”
After a quiet school year, everything suddenly changes in second grade. Ruby was educated alongside white and black children. Henry left William Frantz Elementary School after his contract was not renewed. “It’s like those difficult first years of desegregation never happened. No one talks about it anymore,” Bridges wrote in the religious magazine Guideposts.
Their lives also go on. After graduating from William Frantz Elementary School, he attended high school, trained as a travel agent, married and had four sons. Rockwell’s “The Problems We All Face” became a push in the 1990s to combat the disadvantages faced by black people. “When I first saw the picture, I realized that it was something bigger than myself,” Bridges recalled. In 1999 he founded a foundation that teaches students about tolerance, respect and acceptance of others. “Racism is an adult disease. We have to stop letting our children spread it,” said the seventy-one-year-old, summing up the mission of the Ruby Bridges Foundation.
In interviews, podcasts and school visits, Bridges repeatedly recalled the moments 65 years ago that Rockwell immortalized. In 2011, “The Problems We All Face” also reached the White House. During Bridges’ visit, Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, praised his efforts against segregation and prejudice. “You could say I wouldn’t be here without people like you,” Obama said while looking at Rockwell’s work with civil rights activists on the walls of the Oval Office.
Bridges’ commitment also inspired a group of fifth graders in South San Francisco several years later. They collected signatures, spoke to the San Mateo County School Board and, with the support of California Senator Josh Becker, declared November 14 “Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day.” As in previous years, several hundred thousand children in California and other states will walk to school on Friday to commemorate Bridges’ first day of school — 65 years later, without tomatoes, eggs or insults.
