It Is Time To Make Bigots Famous.

Garrick McFadden
10 min readFeb 14, 2024

We would never know the name of Rudy Bridges or the Little Rock Nine if mobs of violent white terrorists did not show up to hurl insults and make proclamations of violence against them. Why don’t we know the names of the animals in these mobs? It is time we make them famous.

James Brock, the manager of the motel, was photographed pouring muriatic acid into the pool to get the protesters out. Photo credit Bettmann/Corbis

If racist white bigots did not come out in mass to obstruct Ruby Bridges, a precious six-year-old black girl, from attending school and necessitating an armed escort, we would never know her name.

The reason artwork exists, which memorializes this shameful day when the failure of American humanity was laid bare, is that throngs of violent cowards came to a school to intimidate a black child. Ruby was six years old, and white people thought the best use of their time was harassing her and hurling insults at her. I want to know who these people are.

I want to understand why they thought this was a good use of their time. I want to hear first-hand accounts from them or their family members about the time their relative(s) dropped everything they were doing to intimidate a little black girl. If we must learn about Ruby, then we need to give names to the nameless mobs of snarling white faces spitting venom at black people who want to live their lives free of scorn and hate.

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Garrick McFadden
Garrick McFadden

Written by Garrick McFadden

I am a civil-rights attorney. I write about #whiteness, #racism, #hiphop, policing & politics. https://gamesqlaw.com/index.php/thoughts/

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