“Zora! That would be foolish!”
“Is it? Let’s think. For over a year now I’ve been studying the law of the case,” and she pointed to her law books; “I know the law and most of the decisions. Moreover, as a black woman fighting a hopeless battle with landlords, I’ll gain the one thing lacking.”
“What’s that?”
“The sympathy of the court and the bystanders.”
“Pshaw! From these Southerners?”
“Yes, from them. They are very human, these men, especially the laborers. Their prejudices are cruel enough, but there are joints in their armor. They are used to seeing us either scared or blindly angry, and they understand how to handle us then, but at other times it is hard for them to do anything but meet us in a human way.”
‚ÄúBut, Zora, think of the contact of the court, the humiliation, the coarse talk‚ÅÝ‚Äî‚Äù
Zora put up her hand and lightly touched his arm. Looking at him, she said:
“Mud doesn’t hurt much. This is my duty. Let me do it.”
His eyes fell before the shadow of a deeper rebuke. He arose heavily.
“Very well,” he acquiesced as he passed slowly out.
The young lawyer started to refuse to touch the case until he saw‚ÅÝ‚Äîor did Zora adroitly make him see?‚ÅÝ‚Äîa chance for eventual political capital. They went over the matter carefully, and the lawyer acquired a respect for the young woman‚Äôs knowledge.