The Problem We All Live With
Estimated time5 Minutes
Norman Rockwell used his renown for powerful commentary.
Norman Rockwell became known for depicting an idealized (and very white) 50’s Americana. But later in his career, Rockwell began using his art to confront the gap between that idealized vision of America and its fractured and unequal reality.
One of his most powerful paintings is The Problem We All Live With depicts six-year-old Ruby Bridges being escorted to school by federal marshals after becoming the first Black child to integrate an all-white elementary school in New Orleans.
[Video Embed: Painting Tour: "The Problem We All Live With" (1964)]
As you’re looking at the painting,
Notice how the heads of the white deputy marshalls are cut off, but Ruby is whole. This frames Ruby as the main character and the center of the moment, giving her back her humanity that the 1960’s South tried to deny her.
Notice the graffiti on the wall behind her. It looks like someone threw a tomato and just missed her.
Notice that we, the viewer, are positioned as the one who might have thrown that tomato.
Remember that this scene was only 60 years ago, many of the people in it are still alive and advocating for change, including Ruby Bridges herself.
When this painting came out in 1964, it came out to a mostly white audience. Norman Rockwell wanted to incriminate that white audience and make them look twice at who they’re throwing tomatoes at, and who is actually walking through the world with dignity. In this case, it was Ruby all along.
The painting also reminds us that repair often begins with re-telling the stories of our history in a way that’s more truthful and more inclusive. Art can sometimes help people feel those truths in a way statistics and headlines sometimes cannot.