As a little girl, I remember learning about Ruby Bridges. I remember being mesmerized; truly astonished by the amount of courage and strength that she showed when she persevered during times of racial discrimination, all at the age of six. During, that time America was in an era of flash points; the racial revolution of the 1960’s was televised. The image of Ruby walking up the front steps of William Frantz Elementary School sparked an interest in a famous painter Norman Rockwell, who created a blueprint that later evolved into the everlasting interpretation of that historical event for generations to come.
Trapped in a twenty-one by thirteen -inch canvas, Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With was able to authentically capture the theoretical
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ideas that thrived the heroic efforts of Ruby Bridges. Not growing up in the late 50’s and 60’s, especially, in the South it might be difficult for us to imagine just how contentious the issue of desegregation and discrimination was at that time (Essak, (n.d)) . The colors, values, and composition of this painting are simple but they keep a clear focal point on the illustration of the event and attacking racism simultaneously. There is just an impulse that suddenly places you right back on that brisk November morning on North Galvez Street. The girl dressed in a stiffly starched white dress with the matching bow in her hair, gripping her mother’s hand tightly, as they glanced apprehensively at the heckling crowd of segregationist protesters. Hatred howled the air. “ 2,4,6,8… We don’t wanna integrate!” they chanted repeatedly. The marshals stood the girl on the curb as the jangle of the jeering cries echoed from behind the barricades. As she was escorted through the crowd, ahead, on the mottled old concrete wall the word “NIGGER” written in black faded paint with a splatter of tomato juice (Anonymous, 2012) . The tomato lay on the floor after the missed attempt of hitting the little girl and smashing against the wall. Surrounded by racial turmoil, step-by-step with her head lifted high, the little brown girl did not look at the hissing crowd but from the side of the white of her eyes showed like those of a frightened fawn. The first thing that stood out as the focal point was the little girl.
Dressed in her all white outfit against her dark skin immediately just leaps out of the painting and catches your eye. The more I glance at the little girl, the more I cannot differentiate between the little brown girl in the stiffly starched white dress and myself. Even though, Rockwell’s set context clearly depicts Ruby Bridges, I see myself walking through that same menacing, threatening, screaming crowd, guarded by my rights, virtues and values as I overcome the sexism, racism, discrimination, and stereotypes that are trying to deter me from my path to greatness. The imagery is so ironic to me when discussing circumstantial hardships that African Americans like myself are born into, or the ones that we cause on our own. In a metaphorical sense, the significance of the painting represents the journey of life: In this case my …show more content…
life! The Girl What was it like being a black girl? It’s the most amazing experience that the world refuses to let you enjoy. Lol, it’s true we love ourselves but they (society) just tell us not too. Differences between people have always existed, but they gain a new importance when “color” became entirely what people saw. You see, color is to our eyes, what music is to our ears (Perception Of Color. (N.d.)) . Those of us blessed with vision can barely imagine a world without color (Perception Of Color. (n.d.).) . Color, embodies the societal manner of nonverbal communication that represent all ideas (Perception Of Color. (n.d.).) . Ultimately, the appropriate use of color is critical especially when concerning people: individually or as a whole (Perception Of Color. (n.d.).) . As a young African American woman, I know what it means for “color” to define your existence. My entire life, my “color” defined how beautiful, how intelligent, how strong, and how successful I would be in today's society. People often think that discrimination notoriously occurs amongst two different races but it can also happen within a race. “Team light skin” vs. “Team dark skin” or the notorious “Light skin the right skin!” are the basic forms of skin stratification, in order words complete ignorance, that I have heard countless times while growing up. In my opinion, this type of division is poisoning this shallow minded generation of mines. It saddens me because even though the physical chains of bondage are broken we are still mentally chained: these stereotypes are cancerous, dangerous and have shaped how we view our people and ourselves. This type of stereotyping is seen as joking and not serious: Even young children use these jokes and labels: you're so black this; you're so black that…. I’ve lost count of how many times I have heard one of those jokes. Growing up was extremely difficult for me being in the skin that I am in. Everyday in school, I was bullied for the fullness of my lips, to the darkness of my skin, down to my unibrow. I didn’t fit the stigma of what beauty was. I know “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but I knew that I was beautiful in my own way: my loving personality, my smile, my mind, my charisma, my spirit: I was beautiful because my mommy told me so. But, to others I was the boyish, tall, lanky, skinny black girl with the nappy hair, whose elbows couldn’t skip a day without being lotion. In other terms, ugly! Ugly; Under Greatness Lies You! The “ugly” acronym is something that I created when I was approximately in the seventh grade. Every time I heard 'U.G.L.Y, you ain't got no alibi' being sung, here followed: Taylor, Ebony, Jermani, Erica, Janasis, Terrin, Camille, Imani and their little clique to make sure that they got their point across. Prior to the seventh grade, I dreaded going to school everyday; it hurt me to be in school with this particular group of girls picking on me, everyday single day! See, bullies feed off the power and control that you give them; they feel no remorse when they are inflicting their suffering onto others. I never gave them the satisfaction of letting them know that they were getting under my skin. Often there had been times where I questioned myself: If I was beautiful like my mommy said I was why didn’t any of the boys want to be my boyfriend. Was I ugly? Maybe, they were right, I was ugly. Now that I am older, I know that they were full of sugar, honey, ice tea.
But why, and who had them convinced that they were better than me? The solution to my problem was the media. When I picked up a magazine or turned on the television, the women depicted in these articles and movies resemble women of the lighter skin complexion. The lighter-skinned women were perceived to be smarter, wealthier, prettier, and even happier. They didn’t look anything like me they were flawless. Now, that I have the knowledge I know that these images are carefully airbrushed and manipulated to give that sense of flawlessness. But instinctually, as a 12-year-old girl viewing these images, I quickly compared myself to these images. Teens of my generation are extremely vulnerable to strong external forces whether it’s drugs, alcohol, violence, sex, and the media. Looking for validation from society would seemingly be the worst thing that you can possibly do because you leave yourselves vulnerable to becoming a victim. Nobody teaches us how to feel: self-confidence was something that cannot be taught. But, for a while I did experience periods of low-self esteem. No one would've suspected because somehow I was still able to maintain this chill, down-to-earth persona. One day, I decided that I wasn’t going to let people get the best of me. I needed to be happy; and at this point in my life I was not going to let anyone deter me from my happiness. The best way to gain my
self-confidence was to look deep inside myself and believe that I had the ability to overcome all obstacles and challenges that I am faced with, on a daily basis, because as adult I knew that the obstacles and challenges would not get easier. To my dark girls: Beauty is more than skin deep. Beauty is the unique grace and confidence. It’s a shining light that sparkles through your eyes and smile: it’s not what you look like it's what you project. Young girls with brown skin teased by the hurtful views of those around them: I experienced that same emotion. Clearly, being born with darker skin was not something that I had control of, but I realized how I am privileged to be a part of this community. I did experience my share of hurtful reactions to my skin color, but thankfully I embraced who I am. I see the strength and beauty in my skin: I represent something so raw, so powerful. Now, I viewed dark-complexioned not as a mark of oppression like others, but as courage. Still, I always knew there were far too many other people who saw my beauty and embraced every part of me: plumpness of my lips, kinkiness of my hair, and cocoa of my skin. So why couldn’t I do the same. It hurts me to know that so many younger girls today are growing up without that same realization and reassurance. “If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive. ” – Audre Lorde
Although Barnes’ marriage was not a successful one, he adored his newborn baby girl, and was heartbroken when his wife left him, taking his daughter with her. At North Carolina College, Barnes majored in art, and developed his own style (Artist Vitae, 1999). When Barnes was a freshman in college he went on a field trip to the newly desegregated North Carolina Museum of Art. At the museum Barnes noticed that there weren’t any works by black artist displayed, and when he asked the guide where the black artists were exhibited, the guide responded, “your people don’t express themselves this way” (Artist Vitae, 1999). That negative response encouraged Barnes to work hard at becoming an artist.
As people live to this day’s constant demands, they often mention how their lives are ‘horrible’, but no life can be more horrific than just one day in the groove of Wanda Bridgeforth’s life growing up during the 1930’s. Wanda Bridgeforth was a survivor of The Great Depression, and she has quite a story to tell. Surely, she can relate to someone like Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird, although her skin is a different shade. Wanda would had never known what it was like to grow up as an African American if she didn’t primarily reside in what was known as the ‘Black Metropolis’, if she didn’t have major money shortages in her family, if she didn’t live in a constantly cramped housing space, or if she wasn’t transported away to live with a whole different group of people.
In the book Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, the author describes what her reactions and feelings are to the racial hatred and discrimination she and eight other African-American teenagers received in Little Rock, Arkansas during the desegregation period in 1957. She tells the story of the nine students from the time she turned sixteen years old and began keeping a diary until her final days at Central High School in Little Rock. The story begins by Melba talking about the anger, hatred, and sadness that is brought up upon her first return to Central High for a reunion with her eight other classmates. As she walks through the halls and rooms of the old school, she recalls the horrible acts of violence that were committed by the white students against her and her friends.
African-Americans aged 12 and up are the most victimized group in America. 41.7 over 1,000 of them are victims of violent crimes, compared with whites (36.3 over 1,000). This does not include murder. Back then during the era of the Jim Crow laws, it was even worse. However, during that time period when there were many oppressed blacks, there were many whites who courageously defied against the acts of racism, and proved that the color of your skin should not matter. This essay will compare and contrast two Caucasian characters by the names of Hiram Hillburn (The Mississippi Trial, 1955) and Celia Foote (The Help), who also went against the acts of prejudice.
Racism is an attribute that has often plagued all of American society’s existence. Whether it be the earliest examples of slavery that occurred in America, or the cases of racism that happens today, it has always been a problem. However, this does not mean that people’s overall opinions on racial topics have always stayed the same as prior years. This is especially notable in the 1994 memoir Warriors Don’t Cry. The memoir occurred in 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas and discusses the Melba Pattillo Beals attempt to integrate after the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Finally, in Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals discusses the idea that freedom is achievable through conflicts involving her family, school life, and friends.
I thought that Diane Guerrero who is an American actress speech about her family’s deportation was interesting. She recently appeared on an immigration themed of Chelsea handler’s talk show. Guerrero is the citizen daughter of immigrant parents. Guerrero mentioned how her family was taken away from her when she was just 14 years old. “Not a single person at any level of government took any note of me. No one checked to see if i had a place to live or food to eat, and at 14, i found myself basically on my own”, Guerrero added. Luckily, Guerrero had good friends to help her. She told handler how her family try to become legal but there were no sign or help. Her parents lost their money to scammers who they believed to be a lawyer. When her family’s
The award-winning book of poems, Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson, is an eye-opening story. Told in first person with memories from the author’s own life, it depicts the differences between South Carolina and New York City in the 1960s as understood by a child. The book begins in Ohio, but soon progresses to South Carolina where the author spends a considerable amount of her childhood. She and her older siblings, Hope and Odella (Dell), spend much of their pupilage with their grandparents and absorb the southern way of life before their mother (and new baby brother) whisk them away to New York, where there were more opportunities for people of color in the ‘60s. The conflict here is really more of an internal one, where Jacqueline struggles with the fact that it’s dangerous to be a part of the change, but she can’t subdue the fact that she wants to. She also wrestles with the issue of where she belongs, “The city is settling around me….(but) my eyes fill up with the missing of everything and everyone I’ve ever known” (Woodson 184). The conflict is never explicitly resolved, but the author makes it clear towards the end
Ruby Bridges is one of the very many people who has changed history. Bridges has helped desegregate schools all around the world. She still stands today, sharing her thoughts and ideas to stop racism and segregation. Ruby’s life has had many ups, and downs, but she still seems to look on the bright side in almost every situation. Whites threatened and harshly criticized brave, confident, heroic American activist, Ruby Bridges for being one of the first African-American children to enter the William Frantz Elementary School, a school for white students, which helped end segregation in schools. Without Ruby Bridges, our schools may still be segregated to this day.
Kara Walker’s piece titled Gone: An Historical Romance of a Civil War as It Occurred b 'tween the Dusky Thighs of One Young Negress and Her Heart represents discrimination on basis of race that happened during the period of slavery. The medium Walker specializes in using paper in her artwork. This piece is currently exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art. Even though this artwork depicts slavery, discrimination is still an issue today in America, the country where people are supposedly free and equal. Even though slavery ended in the 19th century, we still see hints of racial discrimination for African Americans in our society. Walker uses color, image composition, and iconography to point out evidence of racial inequality that existed in the
To begin, social media has created unrealistic standards for young people, especially females. Being bombarded by pictures of females wearing bikinis or minimal clothing that exemplifies their “perfect” bodies, squatting an unimaginable amount of weight at a gym while being gawked at by the opposite sex or of supermodels posing with some of life’s most desirable things has created a standard that many young people feel they need to live up to. If this standard isn’t reached, then it is assumed that they themselves are not living up to the norms or the “standards” and then therefore, they are not beautiful. The article Culture, Beauty and Therapeutic Alliance discusses the way in which females are bombarded with media messages star...
The Civil Rights Movement marked a crucial moment in United States history. African Americans fought for their right to be treated equally and to put an end to discrimination and segregation. Toni Morrison’s short story “Recitatif” features two girls of the opposite race and how their friendship was affected during this time period. The United States has come a long way since the days of slavery, but African Americans’ rights were still not being fully recognized. As a result of this the Civil Rights Movement developed to peacefully protest for equality. Toni Morrison’s short story, “Recitatif”, takes place during the Civil Rights era of the United States to show the reader how stereotyping, discrimination, and segregation affected two girls,
In 1954 September 8th Ruby Bridges was born in Tylertown, Mississippi to the parents of Lucille and Abon Bridges. At the age of 4 Ruby Bridges and her family relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1960 Ruby parents volunteer her to participate in the NAACP New Orleans Color System program. The Program was to have blacks integrated into an all-white elementary school which is called William Frantz Elementary school. Ruby father Abon was very hesitant of his daughter attending the school along with 5 other black students. They all had pass the test to attend William Frantz Elementary school but ruby end up being the only one to attend. Two others of the 6 black students went back to their old school and the other three chose to transfer to another school, leaving ruby to attend by herself. Ruby mother Lucille felt very strongly about her choice to send her daughter off to William Frantz Elementary. She felt it was a great opportunity for better education for her daughter and that it was the first step for all black African American’s children, November 14, 1960 Ruby Bridges first day of school. She was surrounded by officers and her mother on her way to school. Ruby had to march through a crowd of angry white folks who held signs and yell names at her. Ruby never once cried or show signs of weakness. She held her head high and marched right on in the building. The white people...
Clarissa Sligh is known as a visual artist who photographs the change, and transformation of different parts of history. Sligh’s artist book, “It Wasn’t Little Rock,” focuses on her experience with segregation. In her photographs, she incorporates her personal experiences and viewpoints and add layers to meaning by using text, borrowed images and new images.
Often in my life I have felt trapped by the boundaries and expectations that those around me have set for how I ought to behave, think, and feel. Here in suburban America, these boundaries are often set by peers and family, as well as by the media and celebrity figures. The expectations that they have set often dictate ideas that, deep down, I greatly disagree with. One of the most prominent of the ideas is that my worth is reflected in my outward physical appearance. In this world which has declared war on th...
My extended family made jokes about me dating from a very young age even though it made me uncomfortable, and the characters I was meant to relate to in media were consistently focused on their looks and romantic relationships. As I grew older and entered puberty I felt awkward and being made fun of by my peers about the way I looked and who I felt comfortable associating with led to me having low self-esteem. By the time I entered high school I was under the impression that part of a woman’s value came from her appearance and ability to attract a mate which led to me developing unhealthy habits in order to control my weight and developing friendships and relationships that were not mutually beneficial. A person’s value and success is not based on their appearance but rather who they are as a person and how hard they work although this is not a view I grew up with it is one I have come to develop through personal experience that has led to me becoming a healthier and happier