Ruby Bridges, Barbara Anderson, Mrs. Ackerman and myself

We recognize Ruby Bridges for her life’s work as a civil rights leader and activist; we found an unsightly caricature of Ruby’s historic walk through an angry, snarling crowd with new education secretary Betsy DeVos depicted as Ruby. This representation exemplifies how little has been achieved to understand racial discrimination in the United States.

Had it not been for racial subjugation, Ruby Bridges would not have needed federal marshals to escort her to attend a hitherto segregated public school in New Orleans. Had it not been for the racial animosity, Barbara Henry would not have taught her in an isolated setting; whose integrity of hers led her to provide this brave girl with the best education she could provide. That teacher Barbara Henry and her student Ruby hers represent the best of American heritage. This experience for Bridges is also captured in a retrospective titled “Lasting Impact,” which summarizes the historical effect of this heroic act.

Today, segregation is illegal in the United States and no longer occurs. A great deal of racism has left our society, however not all of it has been eliminated. Hopefully, one day, racism will be a topic only talked about in history textbooks.

DeVos’ cartoon of Bridges is a classic of American culture. This cultural practice is summarized in the following quote from “Fixing Racial Representations of African-Americans at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893” by Bridget Cooke. This excerpt explains why stereotypes are used to minimize the positive reality of Black Americans. Whites created the culture of segregation in large part to counter the success of blacks, to make a myth of absolute racial difference, to stop the uprising. Racial essentialism, the conception of sets of personal characteristics as biologically determined racial identities, grew in popularity among whites along with the rise of the new black middle class and its increasing visibility, especially in the cities.

This American legacy extends to me as well, in Los Angeles, California, where I was born. I am over a decade older than Ruby but I attended integrated schools. I, too, received encouragement from my loving family, as well as key teachers along my way.

At John Muir Junior High School, where I attended school, someone would always manage to free me from my bus ticket book, leaving me walking miles to school. Enter my Barbara Henry, Mrs. Ackerman. Mrs. Ackerman was my science teacher who was a German immigrant. She was looking for me on my way to school and offered me that much appreciated trip to school.

Then she would allow me early access to her classroom. During these morning sessions, she taught me a means to recognize my own exceptional intelligence through a mini astronomy lesson in which she gave me the eagle eye of my ability to extrapolate. I would leave John Muir and graduate cum laude from a class of 1200. This led to me getting a scholarship to college.

In the fifty-eight years since these mornings with Ms. Ackerman I have demonstrated my passion for this American legacy by serving students and staff in ways that have led to:

First woman of my color to become principal of a high school in the state of Colorado

Winner of the following awards

Milken National Educational Leader

Outstanding Person in Colorado State Schools

educator of the year

Election to the School Board the first of my color and female in more than 140 years

Post retirement:

Harvard Scholarships

More than count. For now thanks guys Ruby, Barbara, Mrs. Ackerman