The 6-year-old girl, Ruby, lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was supposed to go to school close Io her home. But all the students in that school were white. Ruby was black. School leaders didn't want to accept her, so they made Ruby take a hard exam and hoped she would fail. But Ruby was so smart that she passed the test easily and was finally allowed to go to the school.
Ruby was excited about her new school. Bui when she and her mom arrived on her first day, she saw a crowd of angry people shouting very cruel things at the gate. They did not want a black child to attend the school. "I had no idea what was happening, " remembered Ruby. She thought the crowd was celebrating something.
Each day. Ruby went to school with four police officers who worked for the national government to protect her. The sight of this small girl with her big bodyguards moved the artist Norman Rockwell. He created a painting of Ruby. He called it The Problem We All Live With", It became a very famous painting.
Ruby grew up to be a civil rights activist. She worked to protect the rights given to all citizens by the government. She even went to the White House to meet President Barack Obama. They looked al Mr. Rockwell's painting. It hung outside the Oval Office.
"We should never judge a person by the color of their skin, " Ruby said. " That's the lesson I learned in first grade. "
