Desegregating Schools
Claudette Colvin was not the only young African-American who was ready to stand up for her rights. Many others followed, some even a lot younger than Claudette Colvin. A few years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a little girl would be the first African-American child to attend William Frantz Elementary School, a previously all white school, in New Orleans (King, 2005). In November of 1960, six year old Ruby Bridges, surrounded by four U.S Marshals, took her first steps to desegregating an all-white elementary school. Bridges stated, “I remember looking out of the car as we pulled up to the Frantz school. There were barricades and people shouting and policemen everywhere.” When they finally pulled up, the marshals got out of the car first telling her and her mother to just walk forward and don’t look back (Bridges). It certainly was not easy at first. Many of the parents pulled their children out of school starting a boycott which lasted a year. Angry white people stood outside the school in protest every day. The mob would chant, “Two, four, six, eight, we don’t want to integrate,” as Ruby entered the school and left each day. Ruby soon started getting threats from the people. One day, a woman brought a black doll in a small coffin as Ruby went into the school. This really scared her. Others threatened to poison the six year old, which made her refuse to eat, and spat on her (King, 2005). However, there was at least one friendly white face; it was her teacher, Barbara Henry. Ruby was Henry’s only student at the time (Bridges). The six year old soon did everything with her teacher who stayed with her in the room most of the time because she was not allowed to leave without an escort. “Since I couldn’t go outside, we pushed desks out of the way and did jumping jack exercises in the room” (King, 2005). Although Ruby found some comfort with Mrs. Henry, she still often had nightmares from all the threats she heard. By the end of the year, Ruby and Mrs. Henry were no longer alone. A few of the white children started coming back to school. However, many of them still did not play with her because they had been warned by their racist parents (Bridges). This brave little girl was an important part of civil rights.