In 1964, painter Norman Rockwell was given his offset assignment for Expect mag. The assignment, itself a effect of the 10-yr anniversary of the Dark-brown v. Lath of Education decision which desegregated schools, culminated in his producing the painting entitled "The Problem We All Live With." In the painting, a immature Ruby Bridges is escorted to school by federal marshals, with racial slurs painted on the wall behind her and crushed tomatoes smashed against the wall, thrown by a crowd of onlookers exterior the frame. She looks alee, stoic, as she follows the marshals to schoolhouse. What is absent from the paradigm are all the others who had to courageously fight and defend her right to be educated and treated every bit a full member of society: her mother, her father, a watching country, and members of her church. The story of Cerise Bridges is non just the story of her courage, though it is that, but besides the courage of her family and community as they fought for equal protection and justice.

The courage of a child

To meet the epitome painted by Norman Rockwell is to exist confronted with the courage of such a modest child. Bridges is dwarfed in size by the men in the photo (their upper bodies existing outside the frame), and yet she looms only as big in the way it is presented. The focus is on her, with her dorsum straight and her eyes set toward her goal. As one federal marshal there reported: "She never cried. She didn't whimper. She just marched along like a footling soldier, and nosotros're all very very proud of her. As the painting, and multiple accounts take shown, this little girl faced a constant stream of threats and physical violence. One time she was enrolled, some white parents pulled their children from the schoolhouse rather than let them be in the same classroom. Even the teachers, with the exception of one, refused to teach her. Thus, Ruby Bridges was left in a classroom by herself with just her instructor each mean solar day at school.

Bridges' backbone, even as a young kid, is a testimony of the way that individuals must stand on the strength of their convictions and fight for justice and equality. That anyone should face such treatment is abhorrent, merely for it to happen to a child even more so. However, the courage of this little girl, and the others like her, was essential in ending segregation and furthering the cause of Civil Rights. It was an immense burden to lay on i and then immature, but information technology was 1 that Bridges was carried with the strength and dignity of one who is on the side of justice.

The backbone of a family

The backbone of the Civil Rights Movement is not just the story of individuals, simply frequently of families. This is especially true in the instance of Ruby Bridges. Absent-minded from Rockwell's painting is the person who walked with her every day that first year: her mother. Ruby'south mother, Lucille Bridges, was described as ane of the "Mothers of the Civil Rights Move" at the time of her decease. Ruby, reflecting on her mother at that fourth dimension, said that it was her female parent who prepare her on the path that led to her enrollment in the white school. And that was a courageous event because piffling Ruby would be enrolling by herself. Though there were six African-American students who were eligible to enroll (because the school district required that the African American students pass a exam proving their academic power), ii chose to remain at their current school, and three were sent to another all-white school. When Red's parents fabricated the decision to ship her to William-Frantz Simple School, they were making the determination to trust the federal marshals, besides equally their customs, to protect their little girl from what they knew would exist a avalanche of hate, racism, and threats to her condom.

Though Crimson would face constant threats and harassment, she was not the merely ane to endure. Lucille faced information technology when she escorted her daughter to schoolhouse. Lucille'due south parents, sharecroppers in Mississippi, would be evicted from their subcontract because of Red. Stores refused to sell to Lucille. And Scarlet's father lost his job. All this equally a outcome of their desire to see their daughter, and others similar her, receive the same education every bit their white counterparts. It is correct and proper to recognize the role that individuals played, only it is as well true that so often that was the result of a family and community who were facing arduousness with them. Lucille Bridges, and the residuum of Carmine Bridges family, are representative of the power that a community has in calling for justice, and that the mettlesome actions of ane individual, one parent, 1 spouse, can have for generations to come.

A twenty-four hour period when no one will make them agape

Rockwell's painting is a reminder of just how far nosotros have come, just also so much that is left to do. Though schoolhouse segregation seems similar a relic of the afar past, in reality American schools are more segregated today than they were in the 1960s. Acknowledging that this is not the issue of de facto segregation, just rather a number of factors, some that are problematic (such as redlining and housing contracts) and others that are beneficial (developing African-American communities and communities), the separation is non an ideal. As Rockwell'southward painting reminds the states, this is a problem that we continue to live with. Nonetheless, as we are reminded in the scriptures, the walls of hostility take been brought down (Eph. 2:14), and we will one day all stand up before a throne with the redeemed of history from every nation, tribe, and tongue in praise of our savior (Rev. vii:9). As nosotros piece of work to brand the world more just, we should be encouraged by the bravery of Ruby Bridges and her family, and the endless others whose names are lost to history, who were working for a future, to employ the language of the prophets, where each person could sit down under their own vine and fig tree and no one will brand them afraid (Micah 4:4).

Alex Ward

Alex Ward serves as Lead Researcher for the ERLC. He assists with the oversight of the Research Establish nether the leadership of the Director of Research. Additionally, he serves as an Associate Editor for the organization. Alex is currently pursuing a PhD in History at the University of Mississippi studying … Read More