Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
This young girl is Ruby Bridges, age 6. She was the first black student to attend a formerly whites-only school following desegregation. President Eisenhower had to deploy armed federal agents to escort her to and from school every day because she and and her family received death threats. Out of fear that she might be poisoned, the agents did not allow her to eat at the school cafeteria. She could only consume food she brought with her from home. At her school, the racist parents of every other student pulled their children out of her classes. All the school's teachers except for one, Barbara Henry, refused to teach her. For an entire year, Ruby sat alone in a classroom with Barbara every day to receive her education.
This isn't ancient history. Ruby is still alive today. Heck, she's exactly the same age as my father. If they had lived in the same town, they would have been classmates. Her school, William Frantz Elementary, is still open in New Orleans. |
Wow. She's only 65 years old today. It's easy to think of these things as belonging to an ancient past. It's pretty eye-opening to see a picture like that and place it in context.
It reminds me that the last residential school in Canada closed in 1996. That is so messed up.