Part of the American section’s work on The Watsons Go To Birmingham is to study important events and moments in the fight for Black Americans’ civil rights during the 1950s and 60s. School integration is mentioned in chapter 9 of the novel, so we focused on the story of Ruby Bridges.
Ruby was born on September 8, 1954. In 1959, she attended a segregated kindergarten, but her mother decided that in order to receive a better education, she would take the test to integrate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was one of the only 6 Black children to pass!
The decision for Ruby to go to this school was part of the integration of American schools after the Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
Like the “Little Rock Nine” in 1957, Ruby was escorted by federal agents. On the first day, her mother accompanied her, but on the following days, she and four US Marshals made the trip alone. Only one teacher at the school agreed to teach her, and no other students were in her class.
Many white people at the time were against integrating the schools. They protested, shouted, threw objects and made death threats against Ruby. She even became afraid that someone would poison her food.
One of the United States Federal Marshals that escorted her, Charles Burks, later recalled, “She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn’t whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier, and we’re all very, very proud of her.”
“The Problem We All Live With” by Norman Rockwell
In 1964, Norman Rockwell painted Ruby in a work that would soon become famous all over the world. He called this painting “The Problem We All Live With” in order to denounce segregation in the United States.
The American Section students created their own pieces of artwork based on events that have happened or are currently happening in the world. Then, they wrote texts explaining why they chose their particular event and how their artwork represents a modern Problem We All Live With. Many decided to focus on the Black Lives Matter movement and the Covid-19 health crisis. Some evoked the wildfires in the Western US or pollution and climate change. One student chose to speak about the loss of our musical heroes. These pieces are an homage to Rockwell’s work.
What event is impacting you the most today? Which event would you have chosen to represent in art?