KCK Students Asked For A Ruby Bridges Holiday And GOP Said Nah, We Good

Source: Vivien Killilea / Getty

Let’s talk about how casual white conservative racism is. It’s so casual, in fact, that Republican lawmakers in Kansas City, Kansas, recently looked Black and POC students right in the eye and told them their request to have Ruby Bridges — who became the first Black student to attend New Orleans’ William Frantz Elementary School after schools were desegregated in Louisiana — honored with a holiday would be “redundant” because Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day already exist.

From The Kansas City Star:

The fourth graders who traveled from Kansas City to Topeka to testify before lawmakers weren’t tall enough to see over the podium, but their teacher brought them a stool to stand on.

“Today, I’m going to be talking about why Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day should be a holiday, a permanent holiday,” said Baraka Ruhumukiza, a student at Frank Rushton Elementary.

His classmate, Ariadne Garcia Montoya, said Bridges was “very brave to go to the school to get her education” and that “kids all over the world would be inspired by her.”

When the fourth graders finished their testimony at last Monday’s House Education Committee meeting, lawmakers clapped for them and said they were brave for coming to share.

Republican members then proceeded to explain why they would not be supporting the proposal to honor Bridges, who as a first grader became the first Black student to attend an all-white school in the South.

Now, before we get into exactly how Republican legislators responded, let’s acknowledge that not a single soul who has been paying attention to American politics should be surprised that their immediate, knee-jerk reaction was to reject the proposal to honor Bridges. Hers is exactly the kind of story they don’t want to be taught to students unless it has been thoroughly whitewashed to highlight pseudo-racial progress rather than the generations of white supremacy that led to Ruby’s historic moment. After all, that’s what MAGA Republicans’ anti-DEI warpath is all about: pretending we live in a post-racial America where diversity initiatives aren’t necessary even though non-white men were excluded from every major industry in the nation for the overwhelming majority of the nation’s history, making those initiatives still demonstrably necessary as white men are still grossly overrepresented in those industries.

According to the Star, the “bill would not have required school districts to participate in activities celebrating Bridges’ historic walk or educating students on the history of school desegregation.” According to the state budget director, making Nov. 14 a permanent holiday to honor Bridges would not have cost the state any money. So, it’s not about taxpayer funding and it’s not even about educators having to teach the history white conservatives would rather bury. It’s almost as if they were presented with a proposal for another Black holiday and that’s all it took for their white-and-eternally-fragile senses to start flaring up.

Now, let’s get into how Republican legislators told Black kids to their faces that America is already at capacity for its tolerance of Black holidays.

“We do have a Black History Month. We have a Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Are we going to do a day for Brown v. Board? A special something on that day?” Rep. Kyle McNorton (R-Topeka) asked rhetorically. “Where’s the end? We’re already doing this, and I think we just need to leave it up to the local school boards.”

I mean, this man really listed one single holiday commemorating one single Black historical figure along with one single month out of 12 and asked, “Where’s the end?”

White Republicans would certainly recognize the absurdity of McNorton’s questions if women were to ask, “Why do we need a Veterans Day when we already have a Memorial Day and Fourth of July?” If someone were to request a holiday celebrating Woodrow Wilson, it might very well get rejected, but the reasoning won’t be that we already celebrate George Washington’s birthday so we don’t need any more white holidays.

McNorton doesn’t even appear to be aware of what a raging white nationalist he sounds like asking, “Are we going to do a day for Brown v. Board?” as if that would be so ridiculous.

“I love that we are already recognizing this. I love that we recognized it with a resolution last year. I love that and I think that it’s so important,” said Rep. Rebecca Schmoe (R-Ottawa). “I also at the same time feel like this is redundant and it’s just one more thing that we’re adding that is already being done.”

How is it “already being done” if a permanent holiday for Bridges isn’t currently recognized?  Or does Schmoe also believe it’s “already being done” because MLK, a completely different historical figure, also has a holiday? It really doesn’t matter since she’s fake complaining that a thing that wouldn’t cost them a dime or require them to do anything to celebrate Bridges is “just one more thing that we’re adding.”

Hell, we already have a flag that represents America, but that doesn’t stop Republicans from fighting tooth and nail to protect “redundant” Confederate flags, monuments and — *checks notes* — holidays.

“It was so, so disappointing for those little students who had the courage to stand up there and talk about their experiences to these adults, and then to hear them say, ‘Nah, this is not necessary. Maybe wait another 10 years,’” said Rep. Valdenia Winn (D-Kansas City), who also serves on the Kansas City Kansas school board.

It’s worth noting that Winnis a 74-year-old Black woman educator, which means she’s four years older than 70-year-old Bridges. This is just a reminder about how recent America’s legally racist history actually is. This story also highlights how much hasn’t changed in this so-called post-racial America.

SEE ALSO:

Hair Discrimination, The CROWN Act And Why DEI Matters

Trump Didn’t Mention DEI During His Black History Month Celebration