When I first read the "Rethinking Our Classrooms" article, one section stuck out to me like a sore thumb. When the article is talking about how many children's books focus on a white and powerful character all I could think about was the book, "Through My Eyes" by Ruby Bridges. My mom had the privilege of meeting Ruby Bridges a couple years ago and she brought me back a signed copy of her book. All I could think about was how great it would have been to have a book like this taught to me when I was in elementary school.
Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South, and she did this when she was six years old! I think teaching students about Ruby Bridges would be a wonderful way to talk about discrimination, one of the many social justice topics in America today. I feel that the students, especially the younger ones, would benefit from hearing Ruby's story because she is someone who was also just a kid going to elementary school and they could easily relate to her. I could ask the students, "What would you do if tomorrow when you came to school, people were mad you came, because of the color of your skin, or your eyes or your hair?" This would get the students to think about the feelings Ruby had when she was a little girl being discriminated against while in school.
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