Say A Prayer For Them
Ruby Bridges was a little girl destined to change the world – before the first grade! When her parents moved to New Orleans when she was 4, they were hoping to find a better life than they had known as sharecroppers in Mississippi. Little they know that this move would put them and their little girl at the center of controversy. Their daughter’s name would become synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement and, indeed, would provide a bridge for others to cross.
In the segregated south, black students were not allowed to attend white schools. But in the year little Ruby was born, the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregated schools and paved the way for all kids like Ruby to attend whatever school they chose, regardless of race.
Before starting school, Ruby was given a test to determining whether or not she was smart enough to attend the all white school a mere five blocks from her home. The test was especially difficult in hopes that black students would have a hard time passing it so that New Orleans schools might continue to be segregated.
Ruby, however, passed the test!
Although her father was against the idea, her mother, Lucille, was determined that her child be allowed the benefits of a good education. On the first day of school, Ruby walked to the steps of William Frantz Elementary School under the escort of Federal Marshalls. Parents took their children out of class that day to boycott in front of the school, yelling obscenities and throwing objects as Ruby approached. Barricades were erected and policemen were everywhere. One particular sight that disturbed little Ruby as she approached the building was a black doll that one mother fashioned and laid in a casket.
Regardless, little Miss Bridge calmly walked by the screaming crowds and entered the building without any hesitation or show of fear!
Asked later how she was able to show such confidence, she explained that when she saw the crowds, police and barricades, she convinced herself it was a Mardi Gras celebration. So in her mind, she was being celebrated! But the real power, she confessed, came from the instructions her mother gave her before leaving for school. Lucille told her little girl to pray for the shouting and screaming people she saw. Her mother explained that they were ignorant people worthy of pity rather than to be hated.
Armed with prayer and a sense of compassion for all those pitiful people who were captivated by ignorance and fear, little Ruby whispered a prayer for all those protesters as she passed them by on her way to school.
There will always be haters in life. The greater your vision for your future and more courage you display to reach your dreams, the more detractors you will have. You will encounter people like the ones Ruby encountered day after day in school. The lessons we learn from this brave little girl include the ability to see our world as a celebrating us instead of tolerating us. And our critics are to be pitied instead of feared.
So don’t lash out!
Don’t fight back!
Just say a prayer for all those pitiful, little haters!