I’ve been thinking a lot about a painting that used to hang outside the Oval Office for a few months when our family was in the White House. A little girl in a sparkling white dress, pigtails and a bow in her hair, is walking to school escorted by four federal marshals in sharp suits. The wall behind her is marred by scrawled slurs and a smashed tomato. It’s Norman Rockwell’s depiction of Ruby Bridges’s march into her first day at a new school — the first day someone who looked like her was allowed inside to learn.

Rockwell took some artistic liberties; when you look at photos, Ruby wore a white sweater over a smart, dark dress and black flats. But the power of the image is the same: This dignified little girl, head held high, her shining appearance reflecting her extraordinary inherent

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