Ruby Bridges de Norman Rockwell (texte en anglais)

Introduction:

"The Problem We All Live With" was commissioned by "Look Magazine" for Norman Rockwell, indeed, the painting was on the cover of one of the magazines. This work was produced in 1964 during the American segregation. The civil rights were a cause in which the painter deeply believed in.

Description:

The Problem We All Live With stars Ruby Bridges, a 6-year-old African American girl, on her first day of class. Carrying school supplies and clad in a clean white dress, Bridges looks like any other student starting the first grade. What surrounds the young girl, however, is not typical. Indeed, we can see, in the foreground, Ruby surrounded by four marshals, their heads are cut from the frame which gives all the attention to Ruby. In the background, on the wall, three elements are of interest: the three letters "K.K.K" meaning "Ku Klux Klan" This is the name of the sadly known racist sect. More on the right, is inscribed in big letters the word "Nigger", also said "N" word, it is a very violent racist insult still unfortunately used.
At the top right hand corner of the painting, we can see a tomato splash, we can see the tomato on the ground as well as residues.

To analyse :

Seeing the original photos, on her first day, Ruby did not only wear white, so this proves that Norman Rockwell wanted to insist on the purity of childhood by using this color, it also creates a contrast with her skin color. Additionally,  In 2011, she explained: “The girl in that painting at 6 years old knew absolutely nothing about racism - I was going to school that day”.
Which confirms the hypothesis.
Going back to the tomato projection mentioned above, we notice that it seems very fresh as if it had just been thrown, which means that the invisible part of the painting, (that Ruby would see) is not actually empty, indeed, a large number of people had come that day to demonstrate against the introduction of Ruby into a white school. So, on the painting, Norman Rockwell puts us in the position of spectators of the situation.

Conclusion:

Of course, the “Problem” the painter painted about sixty years ago, racism, still exists today.  Fortunately, little by little, social progress has taken place in society, first with the Civil Rights movement or more recently with the “Black Lives Matters” movement.

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