A year before Ruby Bridges entered her school, I integrated mine in San Francisco without the drama or any known threat of violence as a kindergartner.  

Without the drama, but I faced my share of resentful people, first from whom I would eventually discover, a coldhearted kindergarten teacher. Although I was four years old, I remember the first day of school. What fascinated me most was the array of playthings in a corner of the room. Our teacher pointed them out and said that she would let us play there each day after our snack (graham crackers and milk).  

But after snack time and before playtime, we napped (or at least we were ordered to). We rested our heads on our desks, and our teacher would call names, one by one, to arise and go to that glorious corner. She ostensibly based the order on our behavior or performance. I was always the last child called after my classmates had taken the best toys.

I recall being excited on the morning of the last day of school. I knew that my teacher would call me early. I had no reason to think an adult could be so mean as to mistreat anyone, much less a child in her charge. But that day went like all the others. I was an adult before I shared my many encounters with hate with my loving parents.

I wonder what happened to the other children in my class. Did the way my teacher treated me become acceptable to them? Did any of them become cruel teachers? Merchants? Police officers? Judges? Antiracist activists?

To my relief, I have discovered White peers who are humane and kind, and I think I’m beyond seeing the world in two categories, that of people like Ruby Bridges and myself, and the other filled by everyone else. But the cruelty permeates American culture. I try to inspire people to name this because we cannot evolve together as long as it’s hidden. I do know that Black folks talk about our experiences all the time. I would like more of my classmates to acknowledge our story because it belongs to all of us. When we understand that our history belongs to us all, we can recognize that we all belong to one another.