As Sandra learned more about what it meant to be African American, she perceived that the overwhelming media images of Black people were negative and neither represented her nor her friends in school. She spoke to her African American friends about race in America. Then, Sandra had her own experience with racism when a clerk at Banana Republic followed her and Leah around the store before telling them there was nothing in the shop for them. Unaware of what had occurred, Sandra agreed to leave, but Leah was furious. She told Sandra that the clerk wanted them to leave because Sandra is black and likely suspected Sandra would shoplift.

At home, Rachel earned the household income while Prudence continued to recover from his injuries. He tried to help by cooking breakfast in the mornings and performing chores around the house—tasks that would have been deemed “women’s work” in their culture. Rachel took a second job as the custodian of a movie theater on Sunday and Thursday nights. On the weekends, Sandra helped her. She quietly resented having to help her parents read bills and communicating with the cable company on their behalf. She wanted to be more like the kids around her, whose parents managed the bills and gave their children allowances.