From Hate to Love

February is African American History Month and every February I taught my children about many heroes of American history who influenced the way our country looks and acts today. Freedom fighters such as Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin abhorred the “peculiar institution” of slavery, "the cancer" that threatened to destroy our Union and deny the words of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” Brave men and women such as Zora Hurston, George Washington Carver, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Jackie Robinson proved that all people, when given the chance, can and will succeed. These men and women helped our country achieve the greatness envisioned by our Founding Fathers.

The children are very impressed by these heroes. But one person impresses them more than any other, not because of her accomplishments or writings or fame, but because she was a child, just like they are, a hero who was six years old. 

Ruby Bridges was chosen as the first African American child to integrate William Franz Elementary School in New Orleans. Her parents were proud and nervous about this honor. They knew the opposition Ruby would face. But Ruby didn’t know. She trusted her parents and always did what her momma and daddy told her. She sat beside them in church while they prayed for Ruby to be a good girl and “hold her head up high and be a credit to her own people and a credit to all the American people.”

When Ruby walked up the steps of her school that first day in 1960, a large crowd of angry faces greeted her. Screaming horrible words, shaking their fists, and holding signs proclaiming “Whites Only” the protesters showed Ruby their hatred. But Ruby walked right by, shadowed by the National Guardsmen who had been appointed by the President to protect her. She looked so small in her flouncy school dress and hair ribbons.  

When Ruby stepped inside, the shouts of the crowd followed her. Her teacher, Mrs. Henry, greeted her. Ruby liked her right away. Ruby was the only child in the class and she and Mrs. Henry read, played games, solved problems, and jumped rope together. Ruby remembered what her momma told her and always said “Yes, ma’am” and “No, ma’am.” Mrs. Henry liked Ruby too and wondered how Ruby could seem so happy after walking by that screaming mob.

A young psychiatrist Dr. Robert Coles was curious about the little girl who passed so deliberately through the jeering crowd. He asked permission to talk to her and her family to see what effect this experience was having on such an impressionable child. He talked to Ruby and her parents and found out how important their faith was to them and how this faith was helping them in this ordeal.  

One morning, as Ruby was walking through the crowd of parents gathered outside the school she stopped and faced the crowd. The screaming intensified as Ruby paused, then turned and entered the building. Her teacher asked her why she had spoken to them.   Ruby got angry. She said she hadn’t been talking to them. Her parents and the guards had warned her not to and she always obeyed.

 “Ruby,” Mrs. Henry insisted, “I saw you talking.  I saw your lips moving.” 

 “I wasn’t talking,” said Ruby. “I was praying for them.”  

Dr. Robert Coles asked Ruby,  "What prayer did you say?" 

Ruby told him, "Please, God, forgive these people because even if they say those mean things they don't know what they're doing. So You can forgive them just like You did those folks a long time ago when they said terrible things about You."

Yes, the children are very impressed with Ruby’s story.  Ruby obeyed her parents.  She didn’t hate people who shouted at her, even though they hated her, because every day when she entered school, her teacher treated her with love and respect.  

Ruby returned hate with love. She was a little kid, just like my students, but she changed the world.