#ruby bridges

[blackcentric]

[odinsblog]

This is recent history. Ruby Bridges is 68yrs old and she is still alive.

Emily Conklin is thee definition of a racist Karen, and she is trying to whitewash the history white children learn by erasing a rated PG Disney movie that has already been shown for years in Pinellas County schools, usually as a part of Black History Month.

Two immediate thoughts that come to mind are:

“The people who threw rocks at Ruby Bridges for trying to go to school in 1960 now are upset their grandchildren might learn about them throwing rocks at Ruby Bridges for trying to go to school.”

and

“IF BLACK CHILDREN ARE OLD ENOUGH TO EXPERIENCE RACISM, WHITE CHILDREN ARE OLD ENOUGH TO LEARN ABOUT IT”

Look, Ruby Bridges was six years old when racist white parents (men and women) threw rocks and hissy fits because she was trying to get an education. A full year younger than most of the white children who are now being “protected” from learning the truth about what their grandparents did.

I guess these delicate snowflakes are so triggered by the racism of their elders that they need to get the Republican governor to whitewash away the truth.

I’m almost 40yrs old and I used to wonder how it was that in college, white kids my age genuinely believed that Martin Luther King, Jr. died of old age. But somehow, every single Black person my age knew the truth. How does that happen?? This is how it happens. This is a prime example of precisely how that happened and still happens—because to “protect” them from the truth, white kids weren’t taught that he was assassinated. It’s literally no different than raising generations of white kids to believe that 2+2=5. There’s going to be serious problems when they hit the real world. But what can I say? Conservatives like ‘em dumb and ignorant.

Anyway, this is how you get generations of fully grown white adults who truly honestly believe foolishness like “racism is over,” or “Martin Luther King basically ended racism,” or, “we don’t need affirmative action because there is no more racism; if anything it’s white people who are more discriminated against now.” (The majority of white people polled said the same thing in the 1960s too, btw).

Keeping as many white people as possible ignorant of the truth does not happen by accident. It’s very intentional. And that’s not to say that ALL white people are ignorant of the truth. Some of them, like Emily Conklin, know the truth, but just do not care.

And make no mistake: The same white people who want to keep their white children “pure” and “innocent” have ZERO problems criminalizing and sending young Black children directly to jail for even the slightest misbehavior in a classroom.

Evil, racist cowards (redundant, I know).

[whenweallvote]

#OTD in 1960: Ruby Bridges became the first Black child to attend William J. Frantz Elementary School after a court order mandated the desegregation of schools in New Orleans, Louisiana.

At just six years old, Ruby and her story became a symbol of the civil rights movement 🤎

[citizenscreen]

On November 14, 1960, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South. Ruby and her mother were escorted into the William Frantz Elementary School by four federal marshalls. This escort continued all year. She did not miss one day of school. #OnThisDay

[thundergrace]

[usnatarchives]

Ruby Bridges escorted to school by U.S. Marshals, 11/4/1960. NARA ID 175539851.

#OTD: Ruby Bridges Makes History A small step for a little girl, a great step for Civil Rights By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

On November 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges changed history when she walked into William Franz Public School in New Orleans following the court-ordered desegregation of New Orleans schools. 

Fifty years later, President Obama welcomed her to the White House to see Norman Rockwell’s painting of her historic first day. "The Problem We All Live With” (1963) was displayed in the West Wing in summer 2011. See the Obama White House blog: President Obama Meets Civil Rights Icon Ruby Bridges, preserved by the Obama Library.  

President Obama and Ruby Bridges at the White House, 7/15/2011. NARA ID 219775135.

Video: President Obama and Ruby Bridges at the White House!

See related:

Executive Order 10730: Desegregation of Central High School (1957)

Federal Records Relating to the Brown v. Board, ReDiscovering Black History blog by Tina Ligon

Teaching with Documents: Brown v. Board

Teaching with Documents: Bios of Key Figures in Brown v. Board

Eisenhower Library: Civil Rights: Brown v, Board

[itsmythang]

Happy Birthday Ruby Bridges. We THANK YOU!!❤️❤️❤️

Ruby Bridges was born in Tylertown, Mississippi on September 8, 1954.

[typhlonectes]

[nando161mando]

I love watching righties lose their shit over stuff like this. I mean, it’s absolutely fucking glorious.

[robynochs]

The Disney movie Ruby Bridges is removed from use at a Florida school until a review committee can assess it after a parent complained that the movie “might teach white children to hate Black children.”

Right, there's nothing to be learned from our history. "Ignorance is bliss." -- Aldous Huxley

[cozyaliensuperstar7]

Congrats to Ruby Bridges and Serena Williams 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Daily Salinas, a mother in the Miami-area whose complaint about “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman got it successfully restricted in an elementary school, confessed she did not read the piece she objected to in its entirety. According to Salinas, the poem “is not educational and have indirectly [sic] hate messages.” Gorman’s work, which was performed at President Biden’s Inauguration in 2021, wasn’t the only thing Salinas complained about.

According to the Florida Freedom to Read Project, Salinas—whose two children attend The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes—also came for “The ABCs of Black History,” “Cuban Kids,” “Countries in the News: Cuba,” and “Love to Langston” for including “references of critical race theory,” “indirect hate messages” and “gender ideology and indoctrination.”

In an interview, Salinas tried to justify her ignorance of the material. “I’m not an expert,” she said. “I’m not a reader. I’m not a book person. I’m a mom involved in my children’s education.” In addition to being admittedly dense, Salinas has also promoted antisemitism on social media and attended rallies featuring members of the Proud Boys.

Even though she has Cuban heritage, the Florida parent used thinly veiled bigotry as an excuse to further oppress other marginalized groups. Sadly, the fact that she stripped her claims of any validity by not reading the material didn’t phase her in the least. The same can be said of Emily Conklin, another Florida parent who complained about the Disney film “Ruby Bridges” being shown in her child’s classroom because she believed it teaches that white people hate Black people.

The film was temporarily banned at North Shore Elementary in St. Petersburg, though Conklin admitted that she never finished the film (she only watched the first 50 minutes of the movie). Ron DeSantis’ Florida governorship has emboldened white supremacist ideology for conservatives who don’t even consume material they claim to be dangerous to their children. His newly announced presidential run will only work to deepen this dystopia.

The right vehemently has attacked anything they deem “woke,” though they have repeatedly failed to define what it even means. As the GOP sharpen their claws and gear up try to take over White House next year, instances like these remind us that they will never rely on reason, intelligence or principle when it comes to policy and legislation. It will always thrive on hate, discrimination and racism—pillars that have upheld the party since its inception.

[helloparkerrose]

[thundergrace]