'It Really Has Everything to Do with Love': Ruby Bridges Shares the Key to Overcoming Racism

when we turned the corner i saw all of these people november 14 1960 it was six-year-old ruby bridge's first day of school at william france elementary in new orleans i remember them chanting two four six eight we don't want to integrate it had been five years since the u.s supreme court mandated the desegregation of schools now washington was putting pressure on louisiana and other states that had yet to comply in a veiled attempt to appear compliant city officials in new orleans gave 150 black kindergartners an entrance exam one they had no chance of passing but six of the 150 passed that test ruby was one of them everybody was coming over and congratulating my parents she's so smart she passed we're so proud of her so i actually thought that i was so smart that i passed this test that would allow me to go from first grade to college three girls including ruby were selected to attend william france elementary but by the first day the other two girls had dropped out making ruby the only black student in the school my parents only said ruby you're going to go to a new school today and you better behave there was a knock at the door my parents opened the door and four very tall white men were standing at the door and i remember looking at them and thinking who are they those four men were united states marshals sent under order of president eisenhower their job was to escort ruby to and from school one of the men was charles burks well we had a lot of demonstrations against what we were doing the main thing was just be sure nothing happened to her so we'd tell her just stay close to us we'll be all right [Music] they were barricades everywhere there were cameras everywhere i thought i'd stumbled into a parade i actually thought it was mardi gras it didn't seem to bother her any she was just doing what she had been told to do ruby's mother went as well once inside they were taken to the principal's office where they stayed all day there they watched white parents scramble in and out of classrooms taking their children out of school 500 kids walked out of school that day [Music] and i didn't know what was going on because nobody explained anything to me finally the bell rang and someone came into the office and they said school is dismissed you can leave and i remember sitting there and thinking wow college is easy by the next day the crowds had doubled they kept pointing at me and shouting i kept saying we're going to poison her we're going to hang her i was in favor of what we were doing i knew what we were doing was right and we were going to make sure it happened this time ruby was taken to a classroom i remember looking into that classroom and all i saw was empty desk i didn't see one child but there was one person there her teacher barbara henry coming from boston she was the only one willing to teach ruby i remember looking at her and thinking she's white i've never seen a white teacher before she looked exactly like the people outside she wasn't i always say that she showed me her heart [Music] the following week students started to return but the principal confined ruby to her classroom and didn't allow her to play outside or eat in the cafeteria i remember going to the back of the classroom to sharpen my pencil and you could look onto the playground there was these huge oak trees swings and slides and basketball goals and i kept thinking as i sharpen my pencil where are the kids by the end of the school year the protests had disbanded and ruby was finally allowed to meet the other children i finally found them you know i was so excited so i went in to play with them uh this little boy looked at me and he said i can't play with you my mom said not to play with you because you're a so that's what this is about it's not mardi gras and this isn't college it's about me it's about me and the way i look and the color of my skin and in my mind that was okay yes he hurt my feelings but i wasn't angry with him because i felt like he was explaining to me why he couldn't play with me if my parents said ruby don't play with him he's asian hispanic indian muslim white mixed race jewish gay i would not have played with him i didn't feel like there was anything for me to forgive the fact that in my mind he was explaining to me and that i would have done the same thing it wasn't like i was angry with him so there was nothing there to forgive the fact that when i passed the crowd i thought it was mardi gras there was nothing there for me to forgive ruby returned the following year she had a new teacher and a room full of classmates she went on to attend an integrated high school and eventually graduated from kansas city business school with a degree in travel and tourism and when she married and began raising a family she taught her children to rely on god she always falls on her faith and she makes sure that you do so as well so it doesn't matter what you go through doesn't matter who hates you who dislikes you as long as you have that faith and that relationship with god you're fine ruby returned to william france elementary in 1993 when she enrolled her four nieces she witnessed the same racism she had seen as a little girl so to build bridges between the races she volunteered as a parent liaison and established an after-school multicultural art club soon after she launched the ruby bridges foundation and began sharing her story with students all over the u.s i see hope that most of us don't see i'm in schools every day i am so humbled by the way my story moves kids is so simple how mrs henry didn't judge me how all i wanted was a friend kids get that they understand that our kids know nothing about racism it's us as adults we take racism and we pass it on to our kids and that's why it's still around each and every one of us come into the world with a clean heart i believe that if we are going to get past our racial differences even today it's going to come from our kids it's been over 55 years since ruby walked up those steps and took her place in history today her legacy continues to make a difference i was happy to see what she did because i knew it could be done i've always told ruby that i'm glad i was there able to have something to do with it to have equality it takes someone with courage to make that change so that we can come together and you have to have a great faithful foundation to stand up for something that you truly believe my superhero she does that every day [Music] out of the commandments if you could only keep one the one you should keep is love thy neighbor that is the key and i have to care about you as a person and a human being i really believe the longer i live that it really has everything to do with love [Music] [Music] you

Channel: CBN News

Views: 18,686

Keywords: african american. children, all-white, annie, ashley andrews, cbn, cbn news, confinement, deputy u.s. marshals, february 2022, first, four, granddaughter, heart of a child, integrate, months, new orleans, one, overcoming, president dwight d. eisenhower charlie burks, protests, racism, ruby bridges, school, sent, shared, the 700 club, threats, christian news, christian tv, christian stories, faith, faith news, faith stories, inspirational stories, 700 club, gordon robertson, pat robertson

Id: MNURYstt0HM

Length: 10min 7sec (607 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 22 2022