By DEBBIE ROSEN
They read all about her and had seen a video of her life. And Ron Schoen, principal of Oceanside's Fulton Avenue School Elementary School 8, felt children would truly relate to her story. After all, it was the story of a child going to school.
It's the story of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American woman to attend an all- white school at age 6. When students walked into the auditorium Wednesday, Jan. 10, and saw her, they could hardly wait to hear what she had to say. And as she began to speak, students were captivated, watching their history lesson come to life.
Bridges asked students to see her as if she were a 6-year-old girl about to enter first grade at the William France Elementary School in 1960 New Orleans. Setting the tone, she flashed a collage of photos on a large screen. A crowd of people holding up signs lined the streets. Four U.S. marshals surrounded her. People with angry faces held a coffin with a black doll inside. And then, there she was. Ruby Bridges, an ordinary 6-year-old, with an extraordinary story to tell.
As the two-hour school assembly continued, Bridges began to tell the tale of her life. A long time ago schools were different. They were all separate, said Bridges. White children had to go to all white schools and black children only went to all black schools. That was the law. But some people thought that law didn't make any sense and children just wanted to have friends. So, people set out to try and change the law, she said.
Bridges explained how then Louisiana Gov. Davis refused to change the law. People, though, didn't give up and went over that governor's head and straight to President John F. Kennedy. He changed that law and allowed black children to attend white schools. But when parents went back to tell the Louisiana governor of the president's decision, he put as many obstacles in the way of change as he could, hoping to thwart their efforts.
And when parents approached the governor, he told them to get volunteers, and after they went door-to-door, parents had 100 volunteers, Bridges said. Then the governor wanted to see if the children were smart enough to attend the school and made them take a really hard test that took all day. When test results came in, only six children passed, and I was one of them, she said, and an entire auditorium of students broke into a resounding round of applause.
But the battle wasn't over and the governor said those six children would be divided up to attend two different schools. Bridges said while all this was going on her mom, Lucille, never alarmed her about the war of prejudice that raged on. But that reality of hatred would come all too soon.
The night before Bridges was to change schools, her mom got a phone call. The two other students with whom Bridges was to start school changed their minds, but the decision didn't change the mind of one brave mother. And so, Ruby Bridges became the only black child, at the young age of 6, to attend an all-white school.
The morning Bridges started school, she opened the door and saw four U.S. marshals there to escort her and her mom to school. When we got there, all these people were in the streets, holding signs and I thought I was in a parade. I thought it was Mardi Gras, she said. We pulled up to the school and it was so much bigger than my other school. I thought I'd done so well on that test, I had made it to college, she added and laughed.
Bridges spent that first day in the principal's office, gazed out the window where she saw a crowd. People seemed angry and many came to take their children home. On the second day of school, she met her teacher Barbara Henry, whom she adored. But Bridges was the only kid in class and she didn't know why. As the days went on, she heard laughter coming from behind the wall of the coat closet. She asked Henry where were the children she heard laughing, but her teacher didn't answer. While Bridges felt her teacher was ignoring the question, Henry was telling the principal, a friend of the governor, she was in violation of the president's orders. And one day, when Bridges hung her coat up, Henry told her to open the small door inside that closet and walk through.
On the other side, were the children. Only five children were in the classroom, but Bridges joined right in. Minutes later she awakened to the harsh reality of prejudice. There was one boy and he said he couldn't play with me because his mom said he wasn't allowed to play with black children, she said. It was then that I knew why all those people were in the streets and their faces didn't look so happy. It was because of the color of my skin. It was because I was black. Bridges said she never held anger toward the boy, for he was only listening to his mother.
After showing more photos of her experience, Bridges flashed a picture on the screen of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King said no one should ever judge another person by the color of their skin and that's the lesson I want all of you to learn here today, Bridges said. I want you to promise me that when you meet someone, you'll give yourself a chance to get to know them first, before deciding if you want to be friends with them.
Oceanside's Fulton Avenue Elementary students listened intently and the lesson taught was well-learned. Students were impacted by what they heard and saw.
I'm surprised people acted like that back then.. you know, judging people just on the color of their skin, said 10-year-old Jared Silverman, a fifth grader in Stephanie Cooke's class. Just because people are different, it's no reason to call them names or be so mean, he added.
Eight-year-old William Thatcher from the class of teacher Sara Lustbader was deep in thought. The talk with history had made him decide to improve his own world. When I get older, like 12, I want to do something in the neighborhood where I live, he said. I think I'll write to Rich Guardino and tell him that if there are a lot of black kids who don't know white kids or a lot of white kids that don't know any black kids... maybe there should be a program so we could meet.
Ruby Bridges credits her mom for the courage she had in taking steps to change the ways of a wrong world. But there is no denying that Ruby Bridges, herself, was indeed a brave child, whose quest as an adult is to reach out to children. In fact, just days before her talk with Oceanside students, she was honored in Washington by President Clinton. Bridges was one of several honorees who received the President's Citizens Medal. By her side was her mom and first grade teacher, Barbara Henry. The rest, they say... is history.
