randomslasher:“I think it’s fair to say that if it hadn’t been for you guys, I might not be here and
randomslasher:“I think it’s fair to say that if it hadn’t been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn’t be looking at this together.”[16] ~ President Barack Obama to Ruby Bridges, July 15, 2011Ruby Bridges was accepted into an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960, as part of a program spearheaded by the NAACP to integrate the school systems. She was one of four black children who decided to do so (six tested into the program, but two opted to remain at their old schools. The other three went to a different school). She had to be escorted to school every day for the first year by four US Marshals. White teachers refused to teach her; white parents refused to let their children attend the school while she was there. She was threatened with poisoning by a white woman and for her safety was only allowed to eat food she’d brought from home. Her father lost his job and her grandparents were forced off their farmstead in Mississippi. Ruby describes her first day of school: “Driving up I could see the crowd, but living in New Orleans, I actually thought it was Mardi Gras. There was a large crowd of people outside of the school. They were throwing things and shouting, and that sort of goes on in New Orleans at Mardi Gras.”[7]She was six years old. -- source link