A Cogitative Countenance

     The main point that I noticed in the two articles that we read was the issue of segregation, especially of schools.  This by itself connects with A Lesson Before Dying, because there are two schools in the town, and the black school that Grant teaches in can be seen as worse off than the white school.  Such an example of this is described by Ralph Jennings, in that

school buses were not used in the black community. The school buses that you saw were white kids being ferried out of the black community to the white schools.

     Aside from this aspect of segregation, another link between these articles and Grant’s society was the profound effort that the black teachers put forth to educate and prepare their students.

Our teachers’ mission was clear–to make sure that we were capable of competing with anybody, anywhere, and that we would make not only our parents and ourselves proud, but them as well.

This is also very clear in A Lesson Before Dying, because although Grant wants to get away from teaching and get himself a “better” life, while he is teaching, he is trying to do his best for his students.  He feels bad for acting strict, and he realizes that these children will probably grow up to be just as animal-like as Jefferson; or the two men who delivered the firewood.  However, he still tried his best to eductae the students, and help them with their hygene and etc., hoping that he can make somewhat of a difference.