"I remember being so excited because I spent like months searching and trying to figure all of this out," she says. "A little boy looked at me and he told me when he said, I can't play with you. My mom said not to because you're a nigger." She then realized why there's no kids in the school: It's about her.
Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges is our guest today. She shares what it was like to be the first African-American student to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana in 1960. Ruby was just six years old at the time, and it would be years before she fully appreciated her role in advancing civil rights in America.
You can follow the show on Instagram @DrMayaShankar.
If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list at Pushkin.fm.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.