Ruby-Built Bridges

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by Melinda Tuhus | May 4, 2006 8:42 am

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Posted to: Arts

These boys were just two of the hundreds of the adults and kids who came to the Omni Hotel Wednesday morning to pay tribute to an icon of the civil rights struggle, Ruby Bridges. She was the first grader who —” alone —” integrated a New Orleans public school in 1960. She’s been going into schools for the past 15 years, talking to students about undoing racism. She was the keynote speaker at The Clifford Beers Clinic 4th Annual Builders of Hope Breakfast.

Her story is incredible, recorded in the book she wrote for children, Through My Eyes. Two other African American girls were supposed to attend the school with her, but their parents backed out. That left Ruby to be escorted from home to school and back by four U.S. marshalls, as depicted in the famous Norman Rockwell painting of the little black girl with pigtails, wearing a white dress, the word “nigger” scrawled on the wall behind her and a smashed tomato at her feet. She had to walk every day past mobs of screaming, cursing white adults and teenagers.

Claire Gaudiani, former president of Connecticut College (which conferred an honorary degree on Bridges), said in her introduction that Ruby was a fitting speaker for Clifford Beers to host, because the clinic treats 1,500 children each year, 60 percent of whom report witnessing a traumatic event. She also said that half of all traumatic childhood events in Connecticut occur in the New Haven area.

Bridges said she knew nothing about racism when her mom decided that sending her to a white school would improve her life chances. Speaking to an audience at least 80 percent female, Bridges got laughs and applause when she said, “My dad didn’t want me to go to that school, but my mom did, and—¬¶you know the power of women.” She said the real heroes were her parents, her teacher, Barbara Henry, and the psychiatrist Robert Coles, who worked with her to overcome the trauma she experienced. It was through Coles’ book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, that more people learned about her experience.

Virtually every white family boycotted William Frantz School once Ruby started going there. Even when a few brave families sent the children back, they were kept in a separate classroom far from where Ruby and her teacher spent their days. She longed to be with other kids. She said the isolation was one of the hardest parts of her ordeal. But she also said she loved her teacher and she loved learning. Speaking of her faith in God, she said, “I believe Mrs. Henry was put there for me. She made school fun. I knew if I just got past that crowd, I would have a good day.”

Bridges said she’s a magnet for children who have been traumatized. At her talks in schools, children have come up to meet her, to talk with her, to give her little gifts, who she found out later had been abused. She exudes a feeling of safety and love.

Bridges said race relations have improved in many ways in this country in the past half century, but racism is still very much alive —” partly because most people are uncomfortable dealing with it. “We are all tense around the subject of racism, which is a shame because in order to get through it, we have to talk about it. Our children know nothing about racism. It’s we adults who pass it on to our children. And we need to somehow come together for our children. If we are to get past our racial differences I think it will come from our kids.”

“If you ever have a chance to visit a hospital nursery,” she continued, “and see the babies all lined up, you will never see one baby turn to another and say, ‘I am not living next door to you.’ That’s not just because they can’t talk, but because all babies come into the world fresh.”

She said, “It’s extremely dangerous to teach children only to trust people who look like them.” And she confided that the past year was the worst year of her life, because her oldest son was murdered in New Orleans, where she still lives, by men “who looked exactly like him.”

Quite a few young people attended the breakfast. Two, Maria Esther Flores and Angelo Uriostegui (pictured), read a declaration that said, in part, “Your experience inspires us because you told your story. It helps us deal with stress.”

They both volunteer at Clifford Beers, working with younger kids in a drumming group.

After her talk, Bridges was presented with flowers, then took some questions. One young teen asked if Bridges could draw any comparisons between the civil rights movement and the current movement in the streets for immigrants’ rights. “Yes,” she said, “they are very passionate about what they are standing up for. It’s important to stand up for what you believe in.”

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