WEBVTT - A 6 Year Old Changes History 0:00:14.916 --> 0:00:23.516 Pushkin. Hi. Everyone, Please note a racial slurry said twice 0:00:23.556 --> 0:00:25.956 in this interview at around the twenty four minute mark. 0:00:26.556 --> 0:00:39.876 Please take care while listening. I remember the knock at 0:00:39.876 --> 0:00:43.116 the door and my parents opened the door and four 0:00:43.476 --> 0:00:47.236 very tall white men were standing at the door, and 0:00:47.556 --> 0:00:51.196 I remember they had these yellow bands on their arms, 0:00:51.516 --> 0:00:56.356 and my thought then was you know who were they? 0:00:58.116 --> 0:01:01.556 And not really knowing, but I remember the conversation. I 0:01:01.636 --> 0:01:06.316 remember them saying, we are US Marshals and we've been 0:01:06.356 --> 0:01:09.756 sent by the President of the United States. Were here 0:01:09.836 --> 0:01:13.396 to escort you and your daughter to school today. That's 0:01:13.476 --> 0:01:17.476 Ruby Bridges, an icon of the civil rights movement. When 0:01:17.516 --> 0:01:19.996 Ruby was six years old, she became the very first 0:01:20.036 --> 0:01:24.876 African American student to desegregate William France Elementary, an all 0:01:24.876 --> 0:01:28.356 white school in Louisiana. She was not only the first, 0:01:28.476 --> 0:01:31.836 but also the only black child attending the school, and 0:01:32.076 --> 0:01:35.036 US marshals had to escort Ruby there to make sure 0:01:35.116 --> 0:01:38.796 she wasn't harmed by protesters along the way. No one 0:01:38.876 --> 0:01:42.436 told Ruby how monumental this moment was, and it would 0:01:42.476 --> 0:01:44.956 be years before she would put all the pieces together 0:01:45.156 --> 0:01:48.116 and fully appreciate her role in shaping the future of 0:01:48.196 --> 0:01:53.156 civil rights in America. I thought that this was an 0:01:53.196 --> 0:01:58.516 incident that just happened in my community, on my street. 0:02:00.596 --> 0:02:04.036 That's what I thought. I wasn't aware that it was 0:02:04.156 --> 0:02:07.276 so important, that it changed the face of education, and 0:02:07.356 --> 0:02:12.956 that people around the country were familiar with it. I 0:02:13.076 --> 0:02:17.836 did not realize that my walk, my story, was a 0:02:17.956 --> 0:02:22.236 part of a much bigger family, the civil rights family, 0:02:22.716 --> 0:02:28.276 the civil rights movement. On today's show, we hear the 0:02:28.316 --> 0:02:31.316 story of how six year old Ruby Bridges changed the 0:02:31.356 --> 0:02:35.516 course of history. I'm Maya Shunker, and this is a 0:02:35.556 --> 0:02:38.316 slight change of plants, a show about who we are 0:02:38.436 --> 0:02:41.356 and who we become in the face of a big change. 0:02:45.636 --> 0:02:48.796 Ruby Bridges was born in nineteen fifty four, the same 0:02:48.876 --> 0:02:52.036 year the US Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in 0:02:52.116 --> 0:02:56.116 Brown Versus Board of Education. Up until that point, public 0:02:56.156 --> 0:02:58.916 schools were allowed to segregate on the basis of race, 0:02:59.756 --> 0:03:03.156 but in Brown v. Board, the Supreme Court declared segregated 0:03:03.196 --> 0:03:06.956 schools to be inherently unequal in rule that it was 0:03:07.076 --> 0:03:12.916 unconstitutional to racially segate children in public schools. Despite this ruling, 0:03:13.076 --> 0:03:17.436 states in the South resisted the Court's order and segregation continued, 0:03:18.316 --> 0:03:21.396 but eventually a federal judge ordered the New Orleans School 0:03:21.436 --> 0:03:25.516 Board to act, and after years of resistance, they finally 0:03:25.556 --> 0:03:28.836 initiated a plan to integrate two white schools, starting with 0:03:28.876 --> 0:03:32.476 students in the first grade. Still, the board did not 0:03:32.556 --> 0:03:36.116 make it easy. They introduced a number of new requirements 0:03:36.156 --> 0:03:39.556 just for black students. One of these requirements was an 0:03:39.676 --> 0:03:42.916 entrance exam, and nearly one hundred and forty perspective first 0:03:42.916 --> 0:03:46.356 graders took the test. A handful of them passed, and 0:03:46.476 --> 0:03:51.996 Ruby Bridges was one of them. Ruby, the NAACP shows 0:03:52.036 --> 0:03:54.596 up at your doorstep in the summer to tell your 0:03:54.636 --> 0:03:58.436 parents that you've passed this test and you're now allowed 0:03:58.516 --> 0:04:02.956 to attend William France Elementary School. I'm wondering how your 0:04:02.956 --> 0:04:06.676 parents responded to this news. My mother was the one 0:04:06.716 --> 0:04:10.956 who really initiated this, and I think, you know, for 0:04:10.996 --> 0:04:14.276 the most part, like most moms, they want, you know, 0:04:14.356 --> 0:04:16.956 the best for their children. And not to say that 0:04:16.996 --> 0:04:20.796 my father didn't want that, but my father had just 0:04:20.956 --> 0:04:25.916 recently gotten out of the service where he fought in 0:04:25.956 --> 0:04:29.516 the Korean War, and a segregated branch of the military. 0:04:30.316 --> 0:04:34.676 He felt like if you could be on the battlefield 0:04:35.756 --> 0:04:38.276 next to a white soldier fighting for the same country, 0:04:38.276 --> 0:04:40.596 and yet at the end of the day, if you lived, 0:04:40.636 --> 0:04:44.116 you couldn't go back to the same barracks together. Because 0:04:44.116 --> 0:04:48.276 he was black and his counterpart was white. They couldn't 0:04:48.316 --> 0:04:51.356 eat in the same mess haul together. So he felt like, 0:04:51.476 --> 0:04:56.916 why send me to this integrated school facing all of 0:04:56.916 --> 0:05:02.196 the problems that could have happened, because things wouldn't change anyway. 0:05:02.956 --> 0:05:05.596 And that's really how he felt. But I do believe 0:05:05.636 --> 0:05:08.796 that they were very excited that I'd passed the test, 0:05:09.796 --> 0:05:14.076 and you know, your mom eventually convinces your dad, who's 0:05:14.076 --> 0:05:16.756 on the fence, right, and they do decide to enroll 0:05:16.836 --> 0:05:20.076 you in William, France that fall, and you know, I 0:05:20.156 --> 0:05:23.316 know there were delays because of increased resistance from opposition, 0:05:23.396 --> 0:05:26.196 but you do end up having an enrollment date of 0:05:26.236 --> 0:05:32.716 November fourteenth, nineteen sixty and the night before your first day, 0:05:32.836 --> 0:05:35.516 your mom tells you that you'll be joining a new school, 0:05:35.556 --> 0:05:38.076 but she doesn't tell you much more than that. No, 0:05:38.556 --> 0:05:41.076 you know, and I grew up in an era where 0:05:41.476 --> 0:05:46.196 you know, you were seen and really not heard. I mean, 0:05:46.356 --> 0:05:48.316 we could not even be in the same room with 0:05:48.356 --> 0:05:52.556 adults when they were having grown up conversation. It wasn't 0:05:52.636 --> 0:05:55.916 like they were gonna sit me down and explain everything 0:05:55.916 --> 0:05:58.796 to me. You know. It was only on a need 0:05:58.876 --> 0:06:01.196 to know basis. That's, you know, how they felt. So 0:06:01.396 --> 0:06:04.396 the only thing they said is Ruby, you're going to 0:06:04.436 --> 0:06:06.996 go to a new school today, and you better behave now. 0:06:07.036 --> 0:06:09.436 I do remember taking the test, you know, weeks before, 0:06:09.716 --> 0:06:14.476 but I wasn't privileged to what the test was about 0:06:14.516 --> 0:06:18.276 what all of that meant. I just knew that I 0:06:18.396 --> 0:06:20.356 was going to be going to a new school. And 0:06:20.436 --> 0:06:23.356 like most kids, you're a little bit nervous when you 0:06:23.396 --> 0:06:25.156 have to switch schools because you're going to leave your 0:06:25.156 --> 0:06:28.276 old friends and you know, and your teacher in the 0:06:28.316 --> 0:06:30.796 school that I had just gotten used to because I 0:06:30.836 --> 0:06:35.716 was only there for kindergarten, so that was it. And also, Ruby, 0:06:35.716 --> 0:06:39.796 you better behave, And that's what I was concentrating on, 0:06:39.916 --> 0:06:42.996 is behaving. I'm wondering, Ruby, if you can bring us 0:06:42.996 --> 0:06:45.836 back to that first morning when you were getting ready 0:06:45.836 --> 0:06:50.036 for your new school. Well, I remember that morning because 0:06:50.076 --> 0:06:53.516 I had already had a first day. I had had 0:06:53.516 --> 0:06:56.036 a first day of the year before, and yet this 0:06:56.076 --> 0:06:59.876 first day was totally different. You know, neighbors were coming 0:06:59.916 --> 0:07:04.876 over my mother's friends were coming to dress me for school, 0:07:05.156 --> 0:07:08.956 and you know, I had all these beautiful new things 0:07:09.236 --> 0:07:14.716 to where that really didn't happen when I started kindergarten, 0:07:15.556 --> 0:07:17.516 and it just seemed like the house was full of 0:07:17.596 --> 0:07:21.916 people and it was all centered around me going to school, 0:07:21.996 --> 0:07:25.476 and so that in itself was very different. Did I 0:07:25.516 --> 0:07:28.916 feel special? Yes? I felt really special for some reason 0:07:28.956 --> 0:07:31.716 as a matter of fact, in my tiny six year 0:07:31.716 --> 0:07:34.436 old mind, remembering the test that I had taken and 0:07:34.556 --> 0:07:39.316 how excited everybody you are was about the test. I 0:07:39.436 --> 0:07:42.276 really thought that the reason why this was so different, 0:07:42.276 --> 0:07:46.516 and so many people were excited and congratulating my parents 0:07:46.516 --> 0:07:48.716 and saying, oh my goodness, she's so smart. You know, 0:07:49.236 --> 0:07:52.836 I really felt like, okay, that test must have been 0:07:52.876 --> 0:07:57.156 so important and no other kids could pass it that 0:07:57.236 --> 0:08:01.996 now I am going from first grade straight to college. 0:08:02.556 --> 0:08:07.036 So I thought. I thought everybody was so excited because 0:08:07.036 --> 0:08:10.516 it just had never seen a six year old goes 0:08:10.636 --> 0:08:15.916 straight to college. But you know, that's the imagination of 0:08:15.956 --> 0:08:19.396 a child in the innocence that protected me during that time. 0:08:19.876 --> 0:08:23.116 So I remember that back and forth, and then I 0:08:23.156 --> 0:08:25.996 remember the knock at the door and my parents opened 0:08:26.036 --> 0:08:29.556 the door and four very tall white men were standing 0:08:29.636 --> 0:08:34.196 at the door, and I remember they had these yellow 0:08:34.236 --> 0:08:39.716 bands on their arms, and my thought then was who 0:08:39.716 --> 0:08:45.076 were they? And not really knowing, but I remember the conversation. 0:08:45.236 --> 0:08:50.116 I remember them saying, we're us Marshals, and we've been 0:08:50.156 --> 0:08:53.556 sent by the President of the United States. We're here 0:08:53.636 --> 0:08:56.996 to escort you and your daughter to school today, And 0:08:57.116 --> 0:09:01.116 even then it just felt so important. I remember us 0:09:01.116 --> 0:09:03.236 getting into the car with them. Two of them sat 0:09:03.276 --> 0:09:05.436 in the front seat and two in the back. My 0:09:05.516 --> 0:09:07.796 mom and I got into the car with them and 0:09:07.836 --> 0:09:11.276 we started this very art drive to my new school. 0:09:11.716 --> 0:09:16.316 And then even some of the neighbors they seemed ready 0:09:16.876 --> 0:09:20.596 to go as well, and we got in a car, 0:09:20.676 --> 0:09:22.716 we started to drive, and all of the neighbors actually 0:09:22.756 --> 0:09:28.756 walked behind the car. Wow, did the federal marshals give 0:09:28.796 --> 0:09:31.796 you instructions about what to do when you arrived at 0:09:31.796 --> 0:09:36.356 the school? Not really me, but I overheard the conversation 0:09:36.436 --> 0:09:38.716 where they were talking to my mom about how we 0:09:38.716 --> 0:09:40.396 should get out of the car, and you know, I 0:09:40.436 --> 0:09:43.196 remember them saying this, bridges will get out first, We'll 0:09:43.236 --> 0:09:45.476 surround you in your daughter. We want you to walk 0:09:45.476 --> 0:09:52.876 straight ahead and don't look back. I remembered that I 0:09:52.916 --> 0:09:55.396 did see all of the people standing out in front 0:09:55.396 --> 0:09:57.676 of the school when we drove up. But again, living 0:09:57.756 --> 0:10:00.556 here in New Orleans and being accustomed to mighty gras, 0:10:00.836 --> 0:10:04.316 you know something that every kid here in the city 0:10:04.396 --> 0:10:08.636 looks forward to. When I saw all of the people, 0:10:08.796 --> 0:10:13.356 and I I saw barricades, you know where the people 0:10:13.396 --> 0:10:17.076 were standing behind the barricades. I saw police officers on 0:10:17.716 --> 0:10:23.356 motorcycles and horseback. All of that actually happens during my degras, 0:10:24.436 --> 0:10:26.636 because at any given time, you could be in your 0:10:26.636 --> 0:10:30.556 car and stumbled into a parade and you have to 0:10:30.556 --> 0:10:32.956 stay in your car and wait till the parade passes. So, 0:10:34.836 --> 0:10:37.716 you know, I say that to say that I did 0:10:37.836 --> 0:10:44.716 not feel a need to be afraid. Ruby, You're I mean, 0:10:44.716 --> 0:10:46.876 I have this visual in my head, right there's there's 0:10:46.916 --> 0:10:53.156 people protesting and screaming and rebelling against integration. And from 0:10:53.156 --> 0:10:55.756 what I understand, you know, the community knew that there 0:10:55.796 --> 0:10:58.316 would be some schools that would need to integrate that day, 0:10:58.356 --> 0:11:00.236 but they didn't know which ones, right, So the parents 0:11:00.236 --> 0:11:02.916 in this school are finding out in real time that 0:11:03.116 --> 0:11:06.596 their children's school is the one that's being integrated. Is 0:11:06.596 --> 0:11:10.436 that right? Yes, I mean, the schools were kept secret, 0:11:11.076 --> 0:11:14.956 and so I guess what created the crowd that morning 0:11:15.236 --> 0:11:19.516 is parents showing up to bring their kids to school, 0:11:20.076 --> 0:11:23.036 but they waited outside to see if indeed it was 0:11:23.076 --> 0:11:26.116 going to be their school. And that school normally holds 0:11:26.116 --> 0:11:29.596 about five hundred kids, so you can imagine all of 0:11:29.636 --> 0:11:32.036 the parents that were waiting around out in front of 0:11:32.036 --> 0:11:37.556 the school. And so finally when I drove up, they 0:11:37.636 --> 0:11:40.316 knew it was their school. And so the minute I 0:11:40.476 --> 0:11:45.596 was escorted inside of the building, the federal marshals escorted 0:11:45.636 --> 0:11:48.356 my mom and I straight to the principal's office and 0:11:48.516 --> 0:11:50.876 we went into the principal's office and took a seat 0:11:51.356 --> 0:11:54.956 where I was waiting to be assigned to a class. 0:11:55.876 --> 0:11:58.596 But the next thing that happened is all of those 0:11:58.636 --> 0:12:02.596 parents that had been waiting outside, they immediately rushed inside 0:12:02.596 --> 0:12:05.636 of the building. And as I was sitting there in 0:12:05.676 --> 0:12:09.516 the office with my mom, you know, behind these glass windows, 0:12:09.596 --> 0:12:13.076 the federal marshals were standing right outside the door, so 0:12:13.116 --> 0:12:16.636 no one could actually come into the office, but they 0:12:16.676 --> 0:12:19.396 were passing the office and I could see them and 0:12:19.476 --> 0:12:23.796 they would pass the window, and then you know, a 0:12:23.796 --> 0:12:25.516 few minutes later, I would see them come back by 0:12:25.516 --> 0:12:27.756 the window and there were kids with them. So that 0:12:27.916 --> 0:12:32.036 kept happening all morning, back and forth, and I watched 0:12:32.076 --> 0:12:35.876 that the whole day. Finally the bell rang and the 0:12:35.956 --> 0:12:39.916 principal came into the office and she said school was dismissed. 0:12:40.916 --> 0:12:45.716 You can leave. And I remember thinking, Wow, college is easy, 0:12:48.716 --> 0:12:52.996 you know, because nothing happened. And I was expecting something 0:12:53.036 --> 0:12:57.236 to happen that day, but it didn't because parents went 0:12:57.276 --> 0:13:02.716 into every classroom, they pulled out every child and they 0:13:02.796 --> 0:13:07.356 never came back. Ruby. When you leave school on that 0:13:07.356 --> 0:13:11.476 first day and you head home with your mom with 0:13:11.516 --> 0:13:16.076 these federal marshals, what do you remember from that evening? 0:13:17.076 --> 0:13:20.236 I was excited, you know, in my mind, I didn't 0:13:20.276 --> 0:13:27.156 have a bad day that day. Or my father, I think, 0:13:27.316 --> 0:13:29.516 asked me, you know, how was your day, and I 0:13:29.556 --> 0:13:32.556 said it was, you know, it was good, and that 0:13:32.636 --> 0:13:36.996 was pretty much it. There wasn't a conversation between us. 0:13:38.396 --> 0:13:41.636 I do remember my mom saying when she got home, 0:13:41.636 --> 0:13:43.916 she turned a television set on and she could see 0:13:44.636 --> 0:13:49.476 the whole country was actually watching what was happening. And 0:13:49.636 --> 0:13:52.476 I don't think that either one of them expected that. 0:13:53.596 --> 0:13:57.436 And I remember her saying, oh my god, what have 0:13:57.476 --> 0:14:01.796 I done. There was no way of them knowing exactly 0:14:01.916 --> 0:14:05.716 how this was going to play out. They were told 0:14:05.796 --> 0:14:10.316 to expect some opposition, and that's why the Federal marshals 0:14:10.316 --> 0:14:13.476 were there. I know they expected that, but I don't 0:14:13.476 --> 0:14:22.076 believe they expected what she actually saw that day. On 0:14:22.116 --> 0:14:25.196 the second day of school, from what I've read, the 0:14:25.556 --> 0:14:30.516 protesting seems to intensify even more absolutely because after the 0:14:30.556 --> 0:14:34.036 first day, then the whole country knew which school it was, 0:14:34.796 --> 0:14:40.916 so people gathered forces. They were chanting and screaming and 0:14:40.956 --> 0:14:44.956 shouting all sorts of threats. I think for the most 0:14:44.996 --> 0:14:52.916 part I must have blocked that out, but definitely from photographs, 0:14:53.076 --> 0:14:58.076 from footage that I seen after the fact, they were chanting, 0:14:58.116 --> 0:15:02.396 We're gonna hang her, We're gonna poison her. The federal 0:15:02.436 --> 0:15:05.396 marshals took those threats very seriously. As a matter of fact, 0:15:05.636 --> 0:15:10.716 I was never allowed to have lunch cafeteria because of 0:15:10.756 --> 0:15:14.676 the threats about poisoning me and my mother had to 0:15:14.676 --> 0:15:17.516 prepare my lunch and I would have to eat my 0:15:17.596 --> 0:15:21.076 lunch at my desk and not go to the cafeteria 0:15:21.116 --> 0:15:24.156 because they were concerned about that. But yes, they were 0:15:24.196 --> 0:15:30.476 making all sorts of threats protesters carried a small box 0:15:31.756 --> 0:15:36.836 and it was actually a baby's coffin, and they put 0:15:36.836 --> 0:15:41.636 this black doll inside of the box and they would 0:15:41.676 --> 0:15:45.036 march around the school with it. And so whenever I 0:15:45.076 --> 0:15:47.876 would see the box, that's what would really frighten me 0:15:48.716 --> 0:15:51.996 more than anything. I wasn't I don't really remember being 0:15:52.436 --> 0:15:56.076 frightened of the crowd, but when I had to pass 0:15:56.156 --> 0:16:03.316 the box, I would have nightmares about the box. And 0:16:03.396 --> 0:16:05.876 when it comes to who's going to teach you, all 0:16:05.876 --> 0:16:08.436 of the white teachers at the school, which are all 0:16:08.476 --> 0:16:11.716 the teachers at school, refused to teach you. Right, So 0:16:11.756 --> 0:16:15.196 there's a teacher from Boston, Missus Henry, who ends up 0:16:15.236 --> 0:16:19.396 being your teacher for the year. Well, teachers actually quit 0:16:19.436 --> 0:16:24.516 their jobs across the city, thinking that maybe their school 0:16:24.556 --> 0:16:26.956 was going to be integrated. You know, our guest teachers 0:16:26.996 --> 0:16:30.556 who could afford to quit their jobs or maybe switched 0:16:30.596 --> 0:16:32.916 to other schools. They did that. The few teachers that 0:16:33.036 --> 0:16:35.836 remained in the school really did not want to have 0:16:35.916 --> 0:16:39.516 anything to do with me. Missus Henry had come from 0:16:39.516 --> 0:16:42.836 Boston because her husband was also in the military and 0:16:42.876 --> 0:16:46.116 he was stationed right outside of New Orleans. So she 0:16:46.316 --> 0:16:50.356 was looking for a teacher's position had no idea that 0:16:50.476 --> 0:16:55.316 we were about to go into this integration process, not 0:16:55.476 --> 0:16:58.196 that it mattered anything to her because she was accustomed 0:16:58.236 --> 0:17:03.676 to teaching on military basis, where you know, they were 0:17:04.236 --> 0:17:10.316 kids of different nationalities and backgrounds. So she said that 0:17:10.396 --> 0:17:13.316 it really didn't matter to her what I looked like. 0:17:14.596 --> 0:17:17.196 I've heard her say that. She asked if it was 0:17:17.236 --> 0:17:19.956 going to be an integrated school, and she said they 0:17:19.996 --> 0:17:23.876 said yes. They didn't tell her when you get here, yes, 0:17:23.996 --> 0:17:27.956 today it will be. So I met her on the 0:17:27.996 --> 0:17:31.036 second day, and I remember when I went into the 0:17:31.076 --> 0:17:34.876 building and it was so very quiet, because you know, 0:17:34.916 --> 0:17:37.996 everybody was gone. Yeah, you could hear pin drop when 0:17:37.996 --> 0:17:42.116 I walked up the stairs, and our footsteps echoed in 0:17:42.156 --> 0:17:45.676 the hallways. And when I got to the top of 0:17:45.716 --> 0:17:48.956 the stairs, the principal said, your classes down the hall 0:17:49.676 --> 0:17:52.196 and those federal marshalls. They turned me around and they 0:17:52.196 --> 0:17:56.316 walked me down the hall and to the classroom. When 0:17:56.356 --> 0:17:59.436 I got there, the door opened and this woman stepped 0:17:59.436 --> 0:18:03.116 out and she said, Hi, my name is missus Henry. 0:18:03.156 --> 0:18:06.516 I'm your teacher. And I remember looking at her and 0:18:06.596 --> 0:18:11.436 thinking she's white, because I had never seen a white 0:18:11.436 --> 0:18:16.636 teacher before. I had recently come from an all black 0:18:16.636 --> 0:18:21.436 school where everybody looked like me until this very day 0:18:21.476 --> 0:18:25.356 that the law was being implemented, and not to mention. 0:18:25.476 --> 0:18:27.316 When I looked at her, you know, she looked exactly 0:18:27.316 --> 0:18:33.196 like the crowd outside. So I didn't I didn't really 0:18:33.356 --> 0:18:39.156 know how to receive her, you know, I didn't know 0:18:39.636 --> 0:18:42.996 what she was going to be like. Everyone outside seemed 0:18:43.036 --> 0:18:47.396 really angry. But I remember her saying, you know, come 0:18:47.436 --> 0:18:51.396 in and take a seat. And as I stood there, 0:18:51.436 --> 0:18:53.836 I looked inside of the classroom and there were nothing 0:18:53.836 --> 0:18:58.596 but empty desk. So immediately I remember thinking, well, my 0:18:58.676 --> 0:19:02.996 mom has brought me to school too early, because nobody 0:19:03.676 --> 0:19:07.876 was in the building, let alone in that empty classroom. 0:19:07.956 --> 0:19:09.756 But you know, I went in and I took a seat. 0:19:10.676 --> 0:19:12.876 My mother sat in the back of the class, and 0:19:13.036 --> 0:19:19.036 missus Henry began to teach me. And right away I 0:19:19.156 --> 0:19:26.876 liked her. She made me feel safe. I knew that 0:19:26.956 --> 0:19:34.716 she liked me just the way she behaved, and she 0:19:35.916 --> 0:19:40.356 made school fun for me. I remember leaving being excited 0:19:40.396 --> 0:19:44.036 about my first day with her, and as time went on, 0:19:44.396 --> 0:19:49.396 you know, I began to see her as just another mom, 0:19:49.436 --> 0:19:53.236 you know, my school mother, because it was always just 0:19:53.356 --> 0:19:56.676 her and I and I knew that if once I 0:19:56.716 --> 0:19:58.796 passed the crowd and got inside of the building, I 0:19:58.916 --> 0:20:00.236 knew it was going to have a great day. It 0:20:00.356 --> 0:20:05.396 was because of her. You know, she showed me her heart, 0:20:06.716 --> 0:20:12.076 and I knew that she was different. Even though she 0:20:12.236 --> 0:20:20.156 looked like the people outside, she was different. And you know, 0:20:20.236 --> 0:20:22.516 the beauty of it all is that I made a 0:20:22.516 --> 0:20:24.556 friend at six years old that I am still friends 0:20:24.556 --> 0:20:28.316 with today. You know, she's still alive and she's still 0:20:28.356 --> 0:20:33.956 my best friend. I read that missus Henry would start 0:20:33.996 --> 0:20:37.036 each day with a hug, that she would sit side 0:20:37.036 --> 0:20:39.996 by side with you in your cozy corner of the room, 0:20:40.196 --> 0:20:44.516 and because federal marshals wouldn't let you go outside for recess, 0:20:44.516 --> 0:20:46.636 she would get really creative in the classroom. Right, She'd 0:20:46.636 --> 0:20:49.156 move furniture around, and just the two of you would 0:20:49.156 --> 0:20:52.116 do jumping Jackson place because you couldn't do physical ed. 0:20:53.756 --> 0:20:57.156 It was just so moving to hear about the way 0:20:57.156 --> 0:21:03.556 that she embraced it's very complex role. Yes, we had 0:21:03.556 --> 0:21:09.756 our own little world in that room that was hours 0:21:09.836 --> 0:21:13.356 safe haven. I mean you could hear them from the windows, 0:21:13.796 --> 0:21:17.636 screaming and chanting and shouting and there were days when 0:21:17.676 --> 0:21:19.396 she would turn up and said, oh, we're gonna have 0:21:19.516 --> 0:21:21.956 music today, and she turned this little music box up. 0:21:22.876 --> 0:21:26.276 But yes, everything we did we did in that classroom. 0:21:26.316 --> 0:21:31.596 I remember the very first fieldship that I had was 0:21:32.116 --> 0:21:36.156 actually seeing my school building because they would bring me 0:21:36.156 --> 0:21:38.516 out one flight of stairs every morning and down that 0:21:38.556 --> 0:21:41.796 same flight every afternoon, so I never had a chance 0:21:41.796 --> 0:21:47.316 to see the entire school. And to you know, one 0:21:47.396 --> 0:21:50.956 day that happened and she and the federal marshals just 0:21:51.036 --> 0:21:54.796 walked me around the whole school, and that was the 0:21:54.876 --> 0:21:58.116 day that I was able to go to the cafeteria. 0:21:58.196 --> 0:22:01.476 I was excited about that. I could still smell the 0:22:01.516 --> 0:22:04.596 food cooking because they were still cooking for the other 0:22:04.676 --> 0:22:07.756 teachers or maybe for any other students that would show up. 0:22:08.316 --> 0:22:10.316 So I would smell all the food and it would 0:22:10.356 --> 0:22:13.836 remind me of what school was like at my old school, 0:22:15.036 --> 0:22:17.436 where you know, when the bell rang, we all ran 0:22:17.556 --> 0:22:22.116 to the cafeteria and had lunch together. And this school 0:22:22.156 --> 0:22:26.676 was different because that didn't happen. It was very different. 0:22:26.796 --> 0:22:30.156 And I was constantly trying to put the pieces together 0:22:31.356 --> 0:22:36.036 to figure out why this environment was so different. And 0:22:36.116 --> 0:22:40.156 did you ever ask missus Henry directly, Hey, what's going 0:22:40.196 --> 0:22:44.836 on here? Why am I the only kid in your class? No? 0:22:45.876 --> 0:22:48.676 And again I think that that goes back to the 0:22:48.716 --> 0:22:52.116 way I was raised. I do remember saying to her 0:22:52.156 --> 0:22:55.556 and Missus Henry, I hear kids. Because later in the year, 0:22:56.356 --> 0:22:58.996 there were some white parents who tried to cross that 0:22:59.076 --> 0:23:04.076 same picket line to bring their kids to school. The 0:23:04.116 --> 0:23:06.196 principal would take the kids and she would hide them 0:23:07.436 --> 0:23:10.236 so I would never see them and they would never 0:23:10.276 --> 0:23:12.716 see me. But every time I went into this coat 0:23:12.716 --> 0:23:14.756 closet to hang up my coat, I could hear them, 0:23:15.676 --> 0:23:19.316 and I would mention that to missus Henry. I would say, 0:23:19.316 --> 0:23:22.956 Missus Henry, I hear kids, and Missus Henry would just 0:23:22.996 --> 0:23:27.276 ignore me. She wouldn't say anything. I later realized that 0:23:27.316 --> 0:23:31.516 Missus Henry wasn't just ignoring me. She was going to 0:23:31.556 --> 0:23:35.916 the principle and advocating for me, saying that the laws 0:23:35.996 --> 0:23:39.556 changed and kids can be together now, but you are 0:23:39.756 --> 0:23:42.836 hiding them from Ruby. If you don't allow them to 0:23:42.876 --> 0:23:45.076 come together with Ruby, I'm gonna report you to the 0:23:45.116 --> 0:23:51.756 superintendent because the laws changed, And so they made a 0:23:51.836 --> 0:23:56.036 decision that she could take me to where the kids were, 0:23:56.996 --> 0:24:01.556 but still the kids could not come into my classroom, 0:24:02.996 --> 0:24:07.036 and you know, we were taken outside, which I was 0:24:07.076 --> 0:24:09.916 really excited about. And that only happened once or twice 0:24:09.956 --> 0:24:13.836 that year. What were your interactions like with those other 0:24:13.916 --> 0:24:18.276 kids in the short moments you had together. I remember 0:24:18.316 --> 0:24:21.316 that the first day that happened. I remember being so 0:24:21.356 --> 0:24:26.356 excited because I spent like months searching, you know, and 0:24:26.396 --> 0:24:29.836 trying to figure all of this out, and wishing every 0:24:29.956 --> 0:24:34.556 day that kids would show up. And finally when missus 0:24:34.556 --> 0:24:36.396 Henry was allowed to take me to where they were, 0:24:36.476 --> 0:24:40.596 I was like, wow, I knew I heard kids, you know, 0:24:40.956 --> 0:24:43.876 and just excited. I didn't care what they looked like. 0:24:43.956 --> 0:24:46.676 I mean, any six year old would be excited to 0:24:46.796 --> 0:24:50.556 now have an opportunity to make friends. But honestly, that 0:24:50.676 --> 0:24:54.996 was the day that everything came together for me because 0:24:55.036 --> 0:24:57.196 a little boy looked at me and he said, I 0:24:57.236 --> 0:25:00.356 can't play with you. My mom said not to play 0:25:00.356 --> 0:25:04.716 with you because you're a nigger. And I remember that 0:25:04.796 --> 0:25:09.996 to this very day because I remember looking at him 0:25:10.116 --> 0:25:16.276 and feeling like this weight lifted off my shoulders. And 0:25:16.356 --> 0:25:21.356 when I say wait, it was like months. I'm trying 0:25:21.396 --> 0:25:27.756 to piece it together. I'm trying to figure out why 0:25:27.876 --> 0:25:34.196 the school is empty, Why there's no kids that show 0:25:34.276 --> 0:25:38.756 up day after day? Why can't I have lunch in 0:25:38.796 --> 0:25:43.916 the cafeteria. So in my mind the whole time, I'm 0:25:43.956 --> 0:25:49.036 trying to figure it out what's going on. And the 0:25:49.116 --> 0:25:53.836 little boy looked at me and he told me when 0:25:53.836 --> 0:25:56.956 he said, I can't play with you, my mom said 0:25:57.036 --> 0:26:05.556 not to because you're a nigger. I then realized, so 0:26:05.716 --> 0:26:13.756 that's why there's no kids here. It's about me. It's 0:26:13.836 --> 0:26:22.396 not my girl, and this isn't college. It's about me. 0:26:26.116 --> 0:26:28.316 We'll be back in a moment with a slight change 0:26:28.316 --> 0:26:43.956 of plans. Ruby Bridges was never told why she spent 0:26:44.076 --> 0:26:47.636 every day at William France Elementary School with just her teacher, 0:26:47.716 --> 0:26:51.836 Missus Henry, and no other kids, but Ruby eventually figured 0:26:51.876 --> 0:26:53.836 it out when she was allowed to interact with a 0:26:53.836 --> 0:26:56.556 few of the white kids at the school. Ruby was 0:26:56.596 --> 0:26:59.196 called a racial slur by one of the kids, and 0:26:59.276 --> 0:27:01.276 the truth of what was really going on in her 0:27:01.276 --> 0:27:07.596 school became clear to her. My first encounter with racism 0:27:07.916 --> 0:27:12.036 was with this little five or six year old boy. 0:27:14.276 --> 0:27:20.796 And even though he called me that name, I mean I, 0:27:21.756 --> 0:27:24.876