And while it is a sign of success that children today cannot truly comprehend a society segregated by race, it is important that the struggles of those who led the fight-by choice or by circumstance-never be forgotten, as the fight for equality in the United States is still raging. Students today of every ethnic background will find the details fascinating, and will wonder, just as Rosemary did, "Why did it take the Supreme Court to figure that out?" (p. This book, while fiction, is based on McKissack's own experience as a young girl in 1954 Missouri, facing her sixth-grade class as the only African-American student. Whenever you are the first, you are going to have it hard" (71). Bob, encourages her to keep her chin up: "You are a pioneer in the real sense of the word, Rosemary. Things seem too much to handle in the beginning, but the local storekeeper, Mr. And she learns that sometimes people really can change. J., is diagnosed with polio-she learns about hatred. 2).Īs Rosemary goes through her classes at Robertson Elementary-the only "colored" student in the sixth grade after her best friend, J. But, her mother promises, "Next year, when you are in a better school, you'll come to appreciate why this decision is so important" (p.
Having grown up under the oppressive lie of "separate but equal," she just doesn't realize how wrong the system is, or how it actually affects her life. As was the case for many children of the time, Rosemary doesn't quite understand the significance of the ruling. "Why did it take the Supreme Court to figure that out?" (p. We'd make room for a few white kids at Attucks Elementary next year," she tells her mother. "If white people want to go to school with us so much, seems to me all they needed to do was ask.
Rosemary doesn't really care for the idea of her school being closed just because of the decision. And, like so many others, the life of twelve-year-old Rosemary Patterson was forever changed. Board of Education: Segregation of public schools was declared unconstitutional.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States made a historic ruling in the case of Brown v.
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