The Problem We All Live With

    The above painting done in oil for Look Magazine on January 14, 1964 was a real-life scene. The little girl in the illustration is Ruby Bridges, the first black student to be enrolled in The Willaim Frantz Elementary School of New Orleans, Louisiana. The girl in the painting is not the actual Ruby Bridges; she is merely a model who resembled her. Norman explains:
 
"the plight of the little girl in this illustration is emphasized by the vague gray anonymity of the headless lawmen in contrast to her pure black and white clarity."

    In this painting graffiti is scrawled on the walls that Ruby passes each day on her way to school while protected by Deputy U.S. Marshals. Two obscene remarks are on these walls that reflect the time period: "nigger" and "K.K.K." The dictionary definition of nigger reads, "a member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons... All the people who feel left out of the political process." The "N" word has grown to be an extremely hateful word that depicts strong prejudice towards the blacks. It illustrates the hatred felt towards black people during the 1960's.
     The other phrase painted on the wall is K.K.K., which stands for Ku Klux Klan, a white supremisist group which began during Southern Reconstuction.  Reconstruction was "the 12 year period in which the U.S. tried to rebuild the South, physically,politically, economicaly, and socially. Reconstruction also refers to the process by which the the Union restored relations with the Confederate states after their defeat. It was one of the most contriversial periods in American history" (according to American History II class notes). The K.K.K. was led by General Nathan Bedford Forest for the first era. This group of "white supremacists" gave death threats to Afro-Americans and black supporters. They wold rape, murder, and burn property of people who did not heed their warnings. However, sometimes they would strike without warning. For a time they refrained from performing these actions because the Union Army closely surveyed the area, but in 1877 R.B. Hayes was elected (somewhat controversially) and pulled the Army out of the South. In the 1920's  this white supremacist group gained a strong hold and held large marches as it reached its peak of influence. They believed that the Black Americans had no right to be in the United States and should not be allowed to possess any rights.
     This picture shows the massive hatred towards negroes. The mob of people Ruby and the duputies walked through was very dangerous, and that was the reason the marshals were protecting Ruby. The viewer of the painting can understand this hatred by the splattered tomato that hit the wall.  It was most definitely aimed at poor little Ruby. Without the U.S. Deputies, Ruby possibly might have been lynched by the large crowd. It is utterly disgusting how evil people can be when it comes to racial subjects.