The Lesson
"The Lesson" is written from the perspective of Sylvia on a field trip with a group of kids from the neighborhood and Miss Moore. Miss Moore is described as having "proper speech and no makeup." She doesn't fit the stereotypical, racist view of a black woman at the time. The story was published in 1972 but is written in the past tense. America is still going through troubles with racial equality, so the time period is really important. Miss Moore brings the kids to FAO Schwartz on Fifth Avenue. The kids are very different from the "white folks" in the city, who wear fur coats while it's still hot. While bringing the children to Fifth Avenue to prove a point about wage inequality, Sylvia gets really defensive. Her friend, Sugar, tries to participate but Sylvia steps on her foot, trying to stop her from talking about America not being much of a democracy due to some people having a lot and others, like the children and their families, d...