THEY DON'T WANT TO BE REMINDED OF THIS (CRITICAL RACE THEORY)

"THE PROBLEM WE ALL LIVE WITH": NORMAN ROCKWELL

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

In November 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges became one of the first Black children to integrate an all-white public school in the American South, attending William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Her enrollment came after federal court orders to desegregate schools following the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Each day, Bridges was escorted to school by U.S. federal marshals as large crowds of white segregationists gathered outside, shouting threats and insults.

Some protesters carried disturbing props, including a small coffin with a Black doll inside, meant to intimidate and terrorize the child. 

Despite this, Bridges continued attending school, often as the only student in her class, taught by teacher Barbara Henry, who agreed to instruct her when others refused.

Her experience became a defining image of the Civil Rights Movement and later inspired works like Norman Rockwell’s 1964 painting “The Problem We All Live With,” which depicted her walk into school under federal protection.