Question

Read the excerpt from Ruby Bridges’s autobiography that describes the day she first attended an integrated school.

My mother took special care getting me ready for school. When somebody knocked on my door that morning, my mother expected to see people from the NAACP. Instead, she saw four serious-looking white men, dressed in suits and wearing armbands. They were U.S. federal marshals. They had to come to drive us to school and stay with us all day. I learned later they were carrying guns.

I remember climbing into the back seat of the marshals’ car with my mother, but I don’t remember feeling frightened. William Frantz Public School was only five blocks away, so one of the marshals in the front seat told my mother right away what we should do when we got there.

“Let us get out of the car first,” the marshal said. “Then you’ll get out, and the four of us will surround you and your daughter. We’ll walk up to the door together. Just walk straight ahead, and don’t look back.”

When we were near the school, my mother said, “Ruby, I want you to behave yourself today and do what the marshals say.”

–Through My Eyes,
Ruby Bridges

Why did US marshals take Bridges to school that first day?

to make getting there easier
to protect her from harm
to make sure she behaved
to intimidate her

Answer 1

Ruby Bridges was taken to school by US marshals to protect her from harm.

Step-by-step explanation:

The US marshals took Ruby Bridges to school on her first day to protect her from harm. In the excerpt from her autobiography, it is mentioned that the marshals were carrying guns, indicating that they were present to ensure her safety. They escorted her and her mother to the school and surrounded them to maintain their safety as they walked to the entrance.

Answer 2

The US marshals took Ruby Bridges to school on her first day to protect her from harm.

Step-by-step explanation:

As described in the excerpt, the marshals were serious-looking white men who were dressed in suits and wearing armbands. They had been sent by the U.S. government to drive Ruby and her mother to school, and to stay with them all day. The marshals were carrying guns, which underscores the seriousness of the situation and the potential danger that Ruby faced as one of the first Black students to attend an integrated school.