Ruby & The New Orleans School Crisis

"Racism is a grown-up disease and we must stop using our children to spread it."
Ruby Bridges

During "US-American Apartheid", the New Orleans community did everything to postpone the mandatory desegregation of schools. Although a federal judge had ordered the desegregation of New Orleans schools in 1956, both local school boards and state officials resisted its implementation until federal Judge Wright ordered to start desegregation in September 1960. Massive resistance continued. The Louisiana legislature and the Citizens Council began a discussion about closing schools in order to avoid Wright's plan. State court Judge Oliver P. Carriere stated that only the Louisiana state legislature had the right to determine the "racial makeup" of the state's public schools, an interposition resolution declared decisions concerning desegregation a "usurpation" of power, a mandatory jail term and fines were to be introduced for federal judges attempting to impose school desegregation, state representatives called for the arrest of Judge Wright for "causing disorder, chaos, strife and turmoil in this state", Monday, the 14th of November (the day four black six-year-old girls were to be introduced to previously all-white schools) was declared a statewide school holiday, segregationists reacted with public violence, the police arrested 250 persons, etc. (via).

"Don't wait for your daughter to be raped by these Congolese. Don't wait until the burr-heads are forced into your schools. Do something about it now." Leander Perez, district attorney

Photograph above: "Federal Marshal Wallace Downs rides in auto with wide-eyed girl, Gail Etienne, to McDonogh 19 school in New Orleans, November 14, 1960." (literally via). After high school, Gail Etienne took secretarial courses at Southern University in Louisiana (via).

On 14th of November 1960, finally, the two elementary schools McDonough No. 19 and William Frantz Elementary were desegregated. Five of 137 black applicants had been accepted for two schools (via). "The McDonogh Three" Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost and Gail Etienne attended Mc Donogh, Ruby Bridges attended William Frantz Elementary (via). Fearing controversy, the fifth girl was removed at the very last minute after discovering that her parents had not been married when she was born (via). The four girls graduated from high school in 1972. In 1984, the "New Orleans Four" were recognised by city officals for their "extraordinary faith and courage in pursuit of equal education for all" (via).



Ruby Nell Bridges (photograph above) was born on 8th of September 1954, the year the US Supreme Court ruled that all schools must desegregate. Ruby had gone to a segregated kindergarten and after passing psychological and education tests, she was the only black child chosen to attend William Frantz Elementary in 1960 (via).  Her mother, Lucille, wanted to give her girl opportunities she had missed in her life. Her father, Abon, however, was reluctant to send her to the previously all-white school since he did not want to endanger his family (via).



"Each and every one of us is born with a clean heart. Our babies know nothing about hate or racism. But soon they begin to learn - and only from us. We keep racism alive. We pass it on to our children. We owe it to our children to help them keep their clean start."
Ruby Bridges



Photograph above: "Guarded by three Deputy U.S. Marshals, young Ruby Bridges enters newly integrated William Frantz school in New Orleans, La. on Dec. 5, 1960 to begin her third week as the only black student in the school. Integration in two New Orleans schools began on Nov. 14. Approximately seventeen white students entered the school despite attempts of a total white boycott" (literally via).



On her first school day, Ruby and her mother were escorted by four federal marshals. And the escort was necessary. Ruby faced public humiliation, death threats and racial slurs on her way to school. One woman held a black baby doll in a coffin, another threatened to poison her. Her father lost his job, her mother was no longer welcome as a grocery customer, her grandparents were evicted from the farm they had lived on for decades. Most of the approximately 2000 parents withdrew their children (via), Pam Foreman and Yolanda Gabrielle were the only white girls to stay. John Steinbeck and John Updike watched what was happening, Updike wrote about the fact that only two parents let their children continue to go to William Frantz. Integration turned neighbour against neigbour, people involved could lose their jobs. Pam Foreman said that years "later, people would say some terrible things when they would meet Daddy."  Yolanda's mother Daisy Gabrielle was called a communist and was told that her daughter could get a disease from being in an integrated school. Protesters made bomb threats, threw rocks and lightbulbs filled with creosote holding the bible (via).

"(...) one way or another, under the harsh and ingenious pressures that a community can apply, all have been chipped away, leaving, for us to see, two people - a Christian minister and an ex-WAC whose husband spent three years in a foxhole in New Guinea and wasn't going to let a mob of women tell him what to do. Out of two thousand, two."
John Updike

Photographs above: Rev. Lloyd Foreman (left) walking with his five-year-old daughter Pam Foreman to the newly integrated William Frantz School where they were blocked by jeering mothers on 29th of November 1960 (via) and Daisy Gabrielle walking her daughter Yolanda Gabrielle home on 30th of November 1960 (via).

"And even though she was white and she looked exactly like the people outside the school, she showed me her heart." Ruby Bridges on Barbara Henry

Teachers were not willing to accept Ruby Bridges, either ... except Barbara Henry who had moved to New Orleans from Boston (via). Teacher and student spent a year together, side-by-side, separated from the others.

"One of the most distinguishing features of my time as a student at Girls' Latin School in Boston was the respect and sense of worth given to every student, irrespective of class, community, or color." Barbara Henry

"The morning of Monday, November 14, 1960, my husband followed me to the area. We had to park a distance from the school because of the mobs. I had to make my way through that raging sea of protesters to the front barricade, where I met a policeman and gave him my name. My whole life, in a way, had prepared me for that moment. 
My first moments with Ruby are as clear today as they were then. This beautiful little black girl, all dressed in pink. The only clue she was going to school and not to a party was she had her school bag and lunchbox. When kids are shy, they raise their heads a little bit. But enough for me to see her beautiful brown eyes and magnetic smile. I just fell in love with Ruby. How could your heart not be taken by a scene like that?

We walked upstairs to begin our long, solitary, and wonderful journey. Our only classmates were the federal marshals at the door. I was the gym teacher, the music teacher. We sang “Davy Crockett.” We’d do jumping jacks and pretend jumping rope. And I was just so certain I would give Ruby everything I could to help her become a skilled reader. We created our own oasis of love and learning. We each had hearts free of prejudice. That was the bond that united us and has become indomitable all these many years later. (...)

Many kids write letters to me expressing their appreciation for my kindness for Ruby. That’s so powerful for teachers to realize  - how quickly children absorb the attitude of their teacher: the caring, sensitivity, and sense of worth and respect. The ripples are endless. To make a difference in a person’s life and to shape their awareness and caring for other people - what can be better than that?"

Barbara Henry



One year later, in 1961, eight black first graders entered previously all-white schools in New Orleans. The boycott continued but much more peaceful than it had been the year before (via). The pace of school desegregation in New Orleans remained slow (via) and it took New Orleans public schools about ten years to "fully" integrate. In 2004/2005 (the year before Hurricane Katrina), 94% of New Orleans public school students were black (via), William Frantz is 97% black now (via). Today, Ruby Bridges says that schools are reverting back: "You almost feel like you're back in the '60s." (via)



Photograph above: "Mass transfer of white pupils from New Orleans' two integrated elementary schools to segregated public schools in St. Bernard parish was begun today, November 23, 1960. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade pupils enrolled in McDonogh 19 and William Frantz schools, integrated last week by federal court order, were being accepted for enrollment in St. Bernard's Arabi, Carolyn Park and St. Claude Heights elementary schools" (literally via).



Photograph above: "New Orleans students are loaded onto buses to be transported to St. Bernard Parish, November 28, 1960, after McDonogh 19 school was integrated in September" (literally via).



Ruby Bridges became a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement (via). In 1964, Norman Rockwell dedicated the 36x58 inches painting "The Problem We All Live With" to Ruby Bridges depicting her on her way to school escorted by four deputy US marshals: see



- photographs via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via, all rights by their respective owners

Ruby Bridges and Barbara Henry reunited in 1996 after 35 years: watch (2 min.)

Beef & Country of Origin Effect

The country of origin effect refers to consumers' bias against imports due to ethnocentrism ("tendency of giving the superior value to things from one's own group and rejecting those of the outgroups") or patriotism tendency. The bias, however, can also be reversed and refer to a favourable image improving the evaluation and increasing the acceptance of foreign imports. Country of origin image, i.e., consumers' perception about a country's people, development standards and the general quality of products can enhance preferences for imports.
The country of origin label is a very particular label that implies more than just the information where the product comes from. It can also provide information on food safety as regulations differ from country to country (British consumers, for instance, prefer beef not treated with hormones and may be reluctant to buy beef from countries where cattle is given growth hormones). For ethnocentric, patriotic consumers with national pride, the label symbolises "the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign-made products". The country of origin label has a strong effect on highly patriotic consumers which is also the reason why the label is sometimes discussed as a "barrier to trade" (Meas, 2014).



According to various studies, consumers prefer domestic beef across EU member states and are willing to pay higher prices. The UK is one of the largest beef importing countries in the EU and British consumers show a clear preference for domestic versus imported beef - in general. In particular, stronger preference against imports is found among consumers with patriotic sentiment toward their home country. And, the better the country of origin image, the more likely consumers are to choose imported beef (Meas, 2014).



- Meas, T. (2014). The effects of country of origin image and patriotism on consumer preference for domestic versus imported beef. Kentucky: Thesis
- photographs (Glyndebourne, 1967 and A Day at Richmond Park, 1967) by Tony Ray-Jones (1941-1972) via and via

"For me there is something very special and rather humorous about the English way of life and I wish to record it from my particular point of view before it becomes more Americanised". Tony Ray-Jones

The -ism Series (21): Womanism

"Feminism, due to its inadequacies birthed womanism, an African-American variant. Womanism in turn purports to interpret Black female experiences globally."
Sotunsa Mobolanle Ebunoluwa (2009)




In 1983, Alice Walker introduced the word "womanism". Using the term "womanist" instead of "feminist" was a choice that was given much attention. By coining "womanism", Walker expressed a distance from feminism which was viewed as the "white women's movement" resulting in black women being reluctant to "embrace the feminist cause as their own" (Tally, n.d.). Womanists accuse feminism of being a separatist ideology that is based on the belief that women can achieve emancipation only by separating from men while womanists believe that "the emancipation of Black women folk cannot be achieved apart from the emancipation of the whole race (sic.)" (Ebunoluwa, 2009).




Feminism is criticised for not considering "the peculiarities of Black females" and for focusing on the needs of middle class white women in Britain and the U.S. The so-called peculiarities can lead to a triple oppression of Black women, i.e., the intersection of gender, ethnicity and class (Ebunoluwa, 2009).
In the key years in the history of feminism in the 19th century, feminism also showed racist tendencies. During the Civil Rights years in the 1960s, hostility between white and black women intensified (Tally, n.d.).




What distinguishes womanism from feminism is mostly the intersection of gender and ethnicity, the simultaneous experience of sexism and racism.

"(...) the impossibility of separating the two and the necessity of understanding the convergence of women's issues, race/nationalist issues, and class issues in women's consciousnesses. That understanding is in part hampered by the prevailing terminology: feminism places a priority on women; nationalism or race consciousness, a priority on race. It is the need to overcome the limitations of terminology that has led many black women to adopt the term womanist." (Barkley Brown, 1989)

In summer 1970, Jack Garofalo (1923-2004) spent six weeks in Harlem to take photographs for the cover story for the October edition of the magazine "Paris Match". In the 1960s, many residents left Harlem and moved to Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.Those who could not afford leaving stayed in Harlem. Nevertheless, there was "something vital going on in Harlem in the '70s." (via).



- Barkley Brown, E. (1989). Womanis Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 14(3), 610-633.
- Ebunoluwa, S. M. (2009). Feminism: The Quest for an African Variant. The Journal of Pan African Studies, 3(1), 227-234.
- Tally, J. (n.d.). Why "Womanism"? The Genesis of a New Word and What It Means. via
- photographs (Harlem in summer 1970) by Jack Garofalo (1923-2004) via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via

Wil Can Fly

"When we brought Wil home from the hospital 17 months ago we were'nt quite sure what the future would hold for our family. Not soon after having him home we all started to recognize that Wil had a light about him that changed our perspectives on many things. Im happy that I was inspired enough to capture some small glimpses from the beginning of our journey down a new road." (via)



William "Wil" Lawrence is a little superhero with Down's Syndrome and the ability to fly. A while ago, his father, Alan Lawrence, started taking pictures of him showing him in situations in which little Wil seems to be flying.



When Alan Lawrence first learned about his son having Down's Syndrome, his attitude was different:“It felt as though he would put limits on what I would accomplish, what my family would accomplish." (via)
“While looking into his eyes everything started to go into a dream state <…>My emotions of joy paused as everything around me seemed to slow down. The nurse may of been talking to me but I wasn’t listening." (via)



Alan Lawrence was wrong. And he started his series "to show the world that having a child with Down's Syndrome can be a blessing." (via)



"Wil has always wanted to fly ever since he learned to roll on his stomach." (via)



"He likes to throw his arms behind his back and wiggle his feet and my family and I have always joked that he will one day take off." (via) Wil's crawling style made him look as if he were preparing for flight: "It's just an ongoing joke in the family that one day he is going to take off and fly." (via)



"So being a photographer I decided to make that a reality." (via)



"I took Wil outside and did a composite photo of me holding him up and then photoshopped me out of the picture." (via)



"We realise Wil is still young, but we know that even though he has Down Syndrome it doesn't mean he is limited. He will be able to do anything he puts his mind to."  (via)



“He is just like any other kid his age it just takes a little longer for him to reach some of those average mile stones. We know as a family that he will be able to do anything he puts his mind to. Wil Can Fly.” (via)



"I want other parents just starting out this journey ... to have a more positive outlook on it than I did." (via)



"This project is a way for us to show how much our son has blessed our family." (via)



"He's not a burden, he hasn't limited us. He's opened the door to so many new things, to new experiences." (via)



photographs by Alan Lawrence via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via and via

More: thatdadblog

Collective Angst and Opposition to Immigration

Awareness of group history has an impact on social identity as it promotes a sense of common fate and fosters ingroup cohesion. Collective history is fundamental since "history grounds social identity and, thereby, makes social identity possible". Group history becomes more important for social identity when group members are concerned about losing their connectedness to the past. This happens when they are, for instance, afraid to lose their cultural identity, unity, and distinctiveness through immigrant minorities. The potential loss of historical continuity affects different group members in different ways. The authors hypothesise that those who strongly identify with the ingroup will suffer most when historical continuity is disrupted. It is also assumed that these higher identifiers have enhanced levels of collective angst.


Jamaican immigrants arriving at Gatwick Airport, 22nd March 1962, before the Immigration Bill becomes law.

In their studies, Jetten and Wohl measured identity preservation and protection and manipulated historical continuity by providing information about contemporary English continuity with its past.


Greek women arrive in Wellington, New Zealand, in the 1960s

Here is an example for high historical continuity condition and for low historical continuity in brackets:

"Until recently England was generally thought of as a gentle, fabled land freeze-framed sometime in the 1930s, home of the post office, country pub and vicarage. It’s now better known for vibrant cities with great nightlife and attractions, contrasted with green and pleasant countryside. It is incredible how these two sides of England can go so well together and both represent the England of today [But, it is also clear that this is no longer true for the present England. In fact, the English we know today and the English of yesteryear are two very different peoples]." 

Chinatown, London, 1955

The authors also measured collective angst and opposition to immigration. Results show that "group processes do not operate in a time-vacuum" and that the past, the present and the future are very much linked to each other shaping group actions. When the past is manipulated and presented less connected to the present, high identifiers suffer more and are particularly opposed to immigration. while lower identifiers feel less threatened by discontinuity ... and immigrants.


An Italian immigrant working in the Bedfordshire brickfields, 24th September 1955

Although the sample was rather small and only few items were used to measure complex constructs, the results are rather interesting. Hopefully, more research will follow.


Polish Church of St Bride's, Glasgow, 2nd April 1955

- Jetten, J. & Wohl, M. J. A. (2012). The past as a determinant of the present: Historical continuity, collective angst, and opposition to immigration. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 442-450
- photographs (first one by Keystone/Hutton Archive/Getty Images) via and via and via and  (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images) via and (Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images) via, copyright by the respective owners

This posting was originally published on Science Google+ on 24th of January 2015