Ruby Bridges Essay

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Ruby Nell Bridges played a significant role within the civil rights movement because she led the fight in desegregating schools in the south by being the first black student to attend an all white school there. She was born on September 8, 1954 in Tylertown, Mississippi. This was the same year that the Supreme Court made its Brown v. Board of Education decision. At the age of four she and her family moved from Mississippi to New Orleans.
Although the law passed that segregation in schools was illegal in 1954, many white schools in the south refused to desegregate, and therefore the movement for desegregation didn’t take place until the 1960’s. They were able to still keep black students out by because they would implement rules that worked …show more content…

She had increased levels of stress, and began having nightmares. She couldn’t sleep and would have to stay up with her mother and be calmed back to sleep. She had also stopped eating her lunches. She began to hid them in the cubbies in her classroom. Eventually the rotting food was found by a school janitor because it had begun to attract roaches, and mice. This led to more hate on Ruby’s behalf because people would blame the rodents and insects on her herself because she was black. This incident prompted her teacher, Ms, Henry, to begin having lunch with …show more content…

In January of 1998 a movie about Ruby’s experience was released by Disney. In 1999 Ruby started Ruby Bridges Foundation. The purpose of this foundation is to help promote tolerance, respect, and diversity. They also wanted to help end racism and prejudice. The motto for her foundation is, “Racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it.” In the year 2000 U.S. Marshals made Ruby an honorary deputy due to the outstanding courage she showed as a child. In 2001 she was also given the Presidential Citizens Medal by President Bill Clinton. This metal is the second highest honor a citizen can receive from the federal government. It was given to her in acknowledgement for her model behavior as a child on how Americans should react in the face of racism. Along with these accomplishments, there was also a museum exhibit at the Children 's Museum of Indianapolis. Her exhibit stands alongside those of Anne Frank and Ryan

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