Pause image : Ruby Bridges, School Desegregation

1 Le contexte

Ruby Bridges fut la première noire américaine à entrer dans une école blanche aux USA. Son arrivée dans une école primaire sous bonne escorte fit la une des journaux à l'époque.
Les documents proposés ici évoquent cet épisode lié à la déségrégation. Il est intéressant de comparer le tableau de Rockwell et les photos de l'époque... Deux traitements visuels différents pour deux supports différents.
Je vous propose ensuite quelques activités pour travailler ces documents dans leurs dimensions iconographiques et culturelles.

2 Les documents
Document 1

Document 2

site : Ruby Bridges

3 Let's make the most of it
a) describe Norman Rockwell's painting (people, setting, action, event it refers to, painter's message...) : prendre des notes, à faire avant le b)

b) Complete the following description
"The painting is both subtle and powerful. In it, a small, solemn .......................girl in a starched white dress is surrounded by men, whose faces you don’t see, walking with tightly clenched ........................ On closer inspection, they’re wearing armbands that say “Deputy U.S. .......................” and scrawled in crude lettering above the girl’s head is the word “........................” The air of menace and innocence is palatable – the ....................... of the child belies the turmoil around her that you don’t see – the crowd of white protesters shouting epitaphs and threats, throwing objects. The painting, “The Problem We All Live With,” by Norman ......................., is an iconic vision of both America and the Civil .......................movement of the mid-20th century. Its message is still as direct today as it was then." (source : ici )

Read the second paragraph of the article and find :

a) the date of the painting

b) the date of the event it refers to

c) the inspiration for this painting

d) the reason why Ruby is surrounded by US Marshals

e) compare the painting with the following photograph
U.S. marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Public School in New Orleans 50 years ago. The first-grader, the only black child at the school, was there because of court-ordered integration. (source : http://www.tampabay.com/features/article1136252.ece )

c) Going beyond the painting : Document 2 + site
Use the information to write the biography of Ruby Bridges.

Go to her site to see photographs from that period.
What can you say about the atmosphere they depict ?

What is the message conveyed by Ruby ? (definition of racism and a solution)