Reality Matrix Effect (9781310151330) by Laura Remson Mitchell Read Free Book Online Page B

the facts and a bunch of old platitudes.”
    She waited, hoping for a response—even an
argument—but the students just sat there, looking bored.
    “It’s not enough to say that the Rebirth
began after the 1971 riots and changed the way we live today,” she
resumed, suddenly hating the sound of her own voice. “That’s just a
cliché. You have to explain it—show it!”
    “And how’re we supposed to do that?”
challenged a slender young man with ebony skin, a strong jaw line
and the faint beginnings of a mustache.
    Rayna thought for a moment.
    “You live near school, don’t you, Jason?”
    “Yeah. Couple of blocks away.”
    “Are all your neighbors black?”
    “What?  Of course not!  Why should
they be?”
    “Fifty years ago, they would have
been.”  Rayna paused to let the point sink in, but she could
see she’d have to say more.
    “As you all should know by now, South-Central
Los Angeles was almost all black 50 years ago. There were other
parts of the city that were mostly white. Latinos lived primarily
on the east side. Koreans and Chinese and other groups each had
their own little sections, too....”
    Rayna surveyed the faces in the room. The
most positive expression she observed was one of tolerant
politeness. The familiar signposts of active interest—the excited
look of comprehension and the bright-eyed eagerness to learn
more—those were missing. The spark had been dimming steadily over
the past weeks. Now, her students were cast in bronze. The change
was more than disheartening. It sent icy ripples down her
spine.
    “Listen, Miss Kingman, we know the story,”
Xian offered. “We know what happened. John Martin Roberts was shot,
and then people rioted all over the country, and then the cities
were rebuilt. How can we not know the story?  Roberts Park is
less than a mile away. We’ve heard about him all our lives. Maybe
we’re just tired of rehashing something that happened 50 years ago.
Why make such a big deal out of it?”
    Rayna shook her head sadly.
    “The shooting of John Martin Roberts was a
major turning point in American history,” she said with a sigh.
“The Rebirth period that came after the riots made a reality out of
ideals Americans had paid lip service to for almost two centuries.
That’s a pretty big deal, wouldn’t you say, Xian?” 
    “We know that, Miss Kingman, but—”
    “There’s more,” Rayna continued. “It’s
largely because of John Martin Roberts that we that we no longer
have to live with the constant threat of nuclear war or the
hundreds of ‘little’ wars that were once common all over the world.
I’d say that qualifies as a big deal, too.”
    “Yeah, but now you’re talking about the stuff
Roberts did when he was with the United Nations,” said Jason.
    Rayna nodded. “Right, but it’s all connected.
As soon as Roberts was well enough, President Muskie named him
United States ambassador to the U.N. As you all should know,
Roberts helped negotiate an end to the Vietnam War. But he did much
more than that. More than any other human being, Roberts was
responsible for turning the World Court into an effective tool for
resolving international disagreements without armed conflict, and
he played a major role in negotiating the big U.S.-Soviet
disarmament treaty of 1983—the one that set up the first joint
Soviet-American space missions.” 
    Shafts of yellow light burst through the
classroom windows as the afternoon sun found a clearing in the
cirrus-streaked sky.
    “Of course, those early missions eventually
led to development of the Borisov drive and colonization of the
asteroids, and pollution-free energy systems based on Nitinol from
the colonies, and....”
    She hesitated, once again conscious of the
sound of her own voice. “Let me remind you, the purpose of this
class is not to memorize facts. A computer can give you facts. Our
purpose here is to understand history and, by understanding the
past, learn more about ourselves today. To do