Ruby Bridges
Ruby Nell Bridges (born September 8, 1954 in Tylertown , Mississippi ) is an American civil rights activist.
Life
Ruby Nell Bridges was born on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi, in the southern United States. She was the eldest of four children of the Abon and Lucille Bridges couple. When Ruby was four years old, the small family moved to New Orleans for economic reasons . Her father became a gas station attendant and the mother took on night jobs so that they could make ends meet.
When Ruby was six years old, due to a new legal situation, the state of Louisiana allowed African-Americans in New Orleans to attend all-white schools and thus to end racial segregation in elementary schools. For this, however, African Americans had to pass a difficult aptitude test. Ruby was one of six African American children in New Orleans who passed this test. This enabled her to start school at the William Frantz Elementary School, near which she lived with her family. Ruby became the first African American child in the southern United States to attend a multiracial school.
On November 14, 1960, the girl was accompanied to school by four Federal Marshals , greeted by a wild mob who yelled at and threw objects at her. The school was completely empty as all other children were kept at home by their parents because of Ruby or given to other schools. The teachers weren't ready to teach her either, except for Barbara Henry, a teacher who had just come to New Orleans from Boston .
One of the accompanying marshals, Charles Burks, spoke of Ruby with admiration as a brave "little soldier":
“She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn't whimper. She marched along like a little soldier and we are all very proud of her. "
Barbara taught Henry Ruby alone for months. The escort of the US Marshals also remained. The Bridges family have suffered harassment and threats. For example, the father lost his job because his daughter went to school, and the grandparents in Tylertown lost their share of a lease property. The girl developed nightmares and eating disorders, but she persisted, supported by her teacher and v. a. his mother when he went to school. Little by little, neighbors helped out, and the other (white) parents in the area also let their children go to school again. In the second year of school, the escort was disbanded and after several other African-Americans had also started school there, everyday life at school and that of Ruby Bridges normalized.
Ruby Bridges is now called Ruby Bridges Hall and lives in New Orleans. She is chairman of the Ruby Bridges Foundation , which she founded in 1995.
The movie Ruby Bridges deals with the circumstances of this incident. The picture by the painter Norman Rockwell The Problem We All Live With vividly shows the situation of the then six-year-old girl.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Susannah Abbey. Freedom Hero: Ruby Bridges
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bridges, Ruby |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bridges, Ruby Nell (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American civil rights activist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 8, 1954 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tylertown , Mississippi |