THE BEGINNING BEGINNING THE OFAA OF GREAT TRAIL TRAIL GREAT The incredible story of Ruby Bridges
Manuela Bonilla, Leonor RodrÃguez, Juliana Ruiz 10C
Prologue Imagine this, imagine that you are in the playground and your mom tells you to stay away from some friends only because they don’t have the same toys that you have, how would you feel? It would be horrible, right? It would be so unfair, it’s very difficult to understand how something like this can happen and just because these kids do not have the same toys as you do. Well, that's how children felt many years ago when they were forced to separate and go to different schools just because they didn't have the same skin color. If you had colored skin you went to a basic and not so good school, however, if you had white skin you went to a very fancy and full of materials school. But wait, why is this topic so important? Education has become a right for all children around the world but what kids don’t know is how hard it has been for some to have this right. African Americans had to fight to get this because, until 1960, black children were not allowed to attend a white school. Back then African Americans were treated differently, they went to different schools, or in some cases, they didn’t have the right to education at all.
Now, here's a little explanation of how different black schools were from white schools.
Schools for black children were schools that depended on the amount of money they had, this means that since we know that black people were not so economically stable, these schools had a low educational quality, with remarkable differences compared to the schools of white children. Also, it’s important to mention that all the teachers had black skin too and that the available resources that these schools had were very few.
On the other hand, schools where only white children went were very sophisticated and all the students received a high-quality education. They had all the resources they required and it is clear how smart the students were since they were very demanding schools that sought to teach the only race that was meant to lead the country in the future.
But wait, what happens if I tell you that once a little girl called Ruby changed all of this? Well, today is a lucky day for you because you are about to hear the impressive story of Ruby and how this little child like you managed to unite children with different skin colors
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This is Ruby Bridges, a 6 year old African American girl that was born in Mississippi. She lived in a town called Tylertown with her parents and grandparents, but when she was 4 years old, she moved to New Orleans since her parents wanted to have a better life in a bigger city. Although she comes from a humble family, she is a very intelligent and brave girl. Due to the fact that she is a black girl, her education not so good but how she had Have youwas ever wondered to abilities beyond, why change to thethink world? Well,which she isnever she is so about smart. this and only with her thought intelligence and bravery she managed to do it. Now continue reading this passage and let me tell you how exactly she did so.
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It all started when the government announced that they were going to open the possibility to African American kids to enter all-white schools but only if they passed a determined test. When Ruby was in kindergarten, she was one of many African American students in New Orleans who were chosen to take this test.
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The objective that the government had with this test was to show the community that they were applying the new order that the US government had established, that was that the segregation in public schools needed to end. However, New Orleans was against this so they decided to create the test in order to persuade the community that segregation was over, although people did not know that the test was extremely complicated to pass, so if all African American children failed, then New Orleans would be able to stay On a Monday, Ruby presented the test but segregated. she was really sad. When she came home after the test her mother asked what happened and she told her that the test was really difficult, that she had put a lot of effort into it but the level of complexity was very high. Her mother told her not to worry and tickled her to make her laugh.
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One week later, Ruby ’s parents were informed by officials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People that Ruby was one of the six African American students that passed the test. When Ruby was told that she had passed the exam she got paralyzed, all she did was nodding her head showing agreement with what was going to happen. It was incredible how something like this could be happening to her, she was freaking out and she was scared but really excited. She jumped all around her house and told all her friends about it. She couldn’t believe it, it was insane! She didn’t understand at all what was happening, but she was sure that this new school was going to change her life. Ruby was very excited because she knew she was going to make new friends and she was going to learn new things. She felt like she was in a dream and the only thing she thought about was how her first day at her new school was going to be.
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Ruby’s first day of school really put her strength to the test. Unlike many other kids, Ruby was all excited about her special day. This morning she gobbled her breakfast very quickly and prepared her lunch box with some candy to share with her new friends. Her mom ironed her uniform and made a very nice ponytail perfect for her first day at school. Not for a second did she stop to mourn nor did she feel insecure before heading to William Frantz When she got to the school, however, she School. a thing or two that killed her vibe in a noticed matter of seconds. Ruby looked around and didn’t see anything besides white kids. She wasn't taught to look at other kids and think of them in terms of black and white, but when she realized she was the only African American standing in that huge school, a thought entered her mind that perhaps race was much more of a big deal than she had imagined.
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Ruby kept walking hoping to find another black kid, but there was no point, for she was the one and only African american that had ever stepped inside William Frantz School. Ruby tried to avoid thinking about her skin color and focused on the school details. While walking to her classroom, she saw some amazing drawings on the halls, she was scared she was going to have to draw something herself; Ruby was not an artist and she’d feel embarrassed if other people saw her sketches. and If she wanted to be like the other kids in school, she was going to have to be extra cautious not to make a fool of herself. After a while, Ruby reached her classroom. When she walkedher in invisibility it seemed powers; like no one her;but notita Ruby thought she might have first mastered she noticed was there, caredteacher to greetwalked her and single pair was like nobody could see her.single When classmate the homeroom in not and aall the kids eyes laid onthe her.teacher was supposed to introduce her sat down, Ruby thought maybeof (just maybe) and that’s why nobody had spoken to her. But she was wrong, for the kids’ reasons to . ignore Ruby had little to nothing to do with that and were primarily based on the fact that they were all racists. Especially that demon Marcel
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The teacher barely even looked at Rudy,on those 2 hours of class before their break, making Ruby feelt more than invisible. Kids who hadn't even seen her before were now staring at her, Ruby felt intimidated. When the bell rang and all the kids went outside, Ruby stood up but was hunched and looking down. Not even the time her teddy bear was taken from her had she felt so sad. And when she got to the playground still feeling hopeless, she found a group of kids playing and pretending they were a family. With the purest smile she could put on and with the courage she had left Ruby went to ask those kids if she could play with them. The answer, however, was surprising, because the boy who everyone called Marcel immediately said yes. Ruby felt eternally fulfilled, and asked the natural follow-up question: “Who can I be?” . Little Marcel replied with a wicked look: “Isn't it obvious, black girl? You can be the slave.” And with that Ruby broke into tears and went away whining and sobbing. She could hear the kids’ laughter from the distance, and knew that no matter how far she ran, those words would
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It is sad to think that there are people like Marcel who treat you as if you were inferior to them. But sadly that was Ruby's reality. After what happened with Marcel, Ruby arrived at her house devastated and very surprised that things didn't go as she expected on her first day of school. Her mother, as always so worried about her, asked her what was wrong and Ruby told her everything that happened with Marcel and the other children. Seeing this, Lucille, as always, decided to give her daughter a great life lesson: - "Honey, I know that you feel very sad at this moment and that you only think about what could have been this beautiful day but unfortunately it was not. Not because of this, you have to be afraid or think that this will always be like this. You learn from this kind things. Child,even though you are her not mother able to see that now, it makes you Ruby of was surprised and thoughtful at what stronger you will see thatshe youknew will achieve great things in life. Now my little baby, told her. and However, somehow it was the right smile, andlisten look forward.” thing to to her and be strong. Despite all the abuse and discrimination, Ruby Bridges had no reason to stop and gave up. Instead, she always fought for her dreams and became a great example to many people spreading love and wisdom… like she always said: “Don’t follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin a trail”.
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FEEDBACK - We really liked doing this type of work. It was a different project that let us show our creativity and imagination. It was a bit difficult to work virtually but I think that in the end we managed to handle the situation and we did a great job.
● Girls, this book was beautiful. You have evolved so much in your writing! ● Great job, dears ● 10-2 mistx0.1= 9.8/10