Crystal Williams 
Professor Raquel Corona 
English 102 
13 March 2015

Reading Response #4

The Lesson

1.  What does Miss Moore hope to accomplish during the class outing?  What lesson does she want to teach?  Does it need teaching?  Why?  To what extent does Miss Moore's method of teaching succeed?

This story really spoke to me. Miss Moore intended to show the inner city children the reality of their lives. Their are clear inequalities between themselves and other people in the United States. This lesson is still important to be taught today. There are clear differences between people in this country, mostly with people of color. I do feel that there is another part that should have been taught in conjunction with the original lesson: the case of reparations. Now, the whole point of distributing the wealth is for everyone to have a equal crack at success (page 6). How can we ever expect to be a post racial society that preaches to be a melting pot when we can not pay back the ones that have died building this country? There are companies still thriving off of slave money. Whole countries stay afloat thanks to the 1000 plus years of free labor. Studies have shown that African Americans make up 40% of the economy. And we fight over crumbs. 

As far as how much the teaching succeeded, I believe it was successful. I believe that the lesson hit everyone in different ways. For example, the narrator of the story was affected by the lesson even though she trie to act differently. Through out the story, the speaker's vernacular became more coherent at different points in the story, which is a testament to the teachings of Miss Moore. On page six, Sugar expresses her understanding of the situation presented to her, "this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?" The children also expressed an understanding of the price of food in comparison with the price of a sail boat. However, it is important to note the manner in which the narrator tries to prevent Sugar from speaking. In every revolution, there is always one that does every thing in their power to disrupt the movement. It's a sad truth. Look at the case of Malcom X. It is always one of your own that wants things to stay the same. 

Now for my personal response. What really bothers me about this story is that is parallels how the children and parents act in my after school program. The parents treat the program as if it is a baby sitting service. The children emulate the crabs in a barrel mentality that holds the whole community back. It's depressing to
See the mentality of the people in this story. They used Miss Moore like she was a babysitting service. They didn't like her speech. Hated her education and the way she dressed. She disrupted their reality and pulled their stagnant souls from self perpetuated oppression. She represented a way out. These people are complacent with their placement in life, but will complain in an instant for what they feel they deserve. It's like this confusion that leads to insanity. This insanity leads to destruction. Destruction leads to death. This is one of the reasons that we are in the state that we are on now. Look at the neighbourhoods. You can't even go to the corner store with out being accosted by some random fool with a chip on their shoulder. Miss Moore sees a community that needs raising. A conscienseness that needs a tune up. And she understands the importance of training a child to be leaders of tomorrow. Your oppressors will NEVER give you the keys to your salvation. Children are not even taught slavery, one of the biggest atrocities to ever happen on earth. Children need to learn truth for young so they recognise the falicies in our "post racial" United States today.