The Power of a Good Friend
In November of 1960, 6-year old Ruby Bridges was escorted by US federal marshalls into William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans - 6 years after the US Supreme Court's Brown v Board of Education overturned its own previous "separate but equal" ruling from Plessy v Fergusson.
The state had tried closing schools rather than integrate them, the legislature had passed dozens of laws to keep schools segregated (in defiance of the courts), and school boards had implemented egregious barriers to integration, including 'intelligence' and other testing for prospective black students. White parents withdrew their children from school in protest. Ruby was eventually the only student in her class. Crowds of adults outside the school screamed death threats and hurled racial slurs.
In the midst of all this turmoil, Ruby's white teacher, Barbara Henry, became her friend and ally. Ruby would later say "Despite all the hate that was going on outside, inside that room it was filled with love". While other teachers resigned their jobs in protest over integration, Ms. Henry committed herself to supporting Ruby. "I would not have gotten through that if it had not been for my teacher," Ruby later recalled. "She filled my day with things to do. She made school fun. I enjoyed learning. Even though the crowd was outside yelling, she would go and close the window, and she'd say 'We're going to have music today,' just to drown out everything." Initially, Ruby had lunch alone in the classroom, while Ms. Henry ate with other teachers, but Ruby stopped eating. She hid her sandwiches in a storage cabinet until mice and roaches started showing interest. Ruby later said Ms. Brown "was just sorry there were so many days when I hadn't eaten. After that, she usually ate with me so I wouldn't be lonely".
Ruby recently wrote a book, titled Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher, described as a love letter to teachers who hold the power to change lives. The value and impact of even one true friend on someone's life is impossible to measure.
Ruby went on to graduate from a desegregated high school, marry, have four children, and start the Ruby Bridges foundation to promote "the values of tolerance, respect, and appreciation of all differences". I love the story of her meeting President Barack Obama in the White House when Norman Rockwell's painting The Problem We All Live With, was placed on display. When President Obama came into the room, he gave her a hug and whispered "I cannot begin to tell you what an honor it is to welcome you into this White House under this administration... I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together."
When asked what advice she would give to herself as a child today, Ruby replied "It would be the same advice that the federal marshalls gave me. They said, 'Ruby, walk straight ahead and don't look back.' That's what they told me at 6 years old, and I've tried really, really hard to do that. I think that would be my advice to all of us who were on this path and want to see a better world for our children."
