Robert Coles
In 1960, Louisiana began the desegregation of its schools at Franz Elementary School in New Orleans. Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to attend an all-white school in the South Federal marshalls had to accompany this six-year-old little girl as she walked up the sidewalk to the school amidst the jeers of an angry racist white crowd. For several months white parents kept their children home from school in protest, and Ruby entered her first grade classroom alone. This is a story of courage and faith, one which served as a catalyst for desegregation to continue in schools throughout the South.
I have read this picture book version of the story to students in grades four to eight. At least two messages are clear and powerful: dignity in the face of adversity and forgiveness. To enter into the times and feelings of this event more fully, I also recommend the movie that was made for TV in 1998. It can now be purchased as a Disney DVD. (98 minutes) Other inspiring characters are fleshed out in the movie. Children see how this was not an easy decision for her parents who struggled between the high cause of desegregation and the impact on their daughter. They knew how Ruby's actions could inspire others and pave the way for other children to live in a more just society; yet, they understood the peril of exposing her to the hostile mob. What is particularly striking (and encouraging to me) is that the movie portrays how racist white people could actually change their views.
Note on Robert Coles:
Coles is a child psychiatrist, professor at Harvard University, and author of books with titles such as The Call of Stories: Teaching and the Moral Imagination, The Moral Intelligence of Children, and The Spiritual Life of Children. He feels that we learn our most lasting moral lessons through stories. Among his many awards, he has received the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the early years of looking for literature that would build character in children at our school, we stumbled upon Coles. As we sought to describe how it is that stories have power to kindle and hold the moral imaginations of children, his writings provided eloquent support.
