Schooled

Lionel’s friend Jamar also works at the local car wash. Jamar exhibits a stereotypical attitude that represents one possible result of living in the ghetto. Jamar, who lives with his cousins after his grandparents kicked him out for quitting school, expresses rage against his teachers and society overall. He believes that only money matters, and often steals change from customers with expensive cars. Jamar tries to convince Lionel to quit high school also, inviting Lionel to live with him; Jamar claims that he and his cousins are free from problems and lead an independent life. Even though Lionel disapproves of Jamar’s behavior and lifestyle, he is intrigued.

When Lionel visits Jamar’s house, he realizes that Jamar’s life is not as carefree as he claims. The house is dirty, poorly kept, and reverberating with loud music; moreover, Jamar and his cousins use alcohol and drugs. Jamar’s eyes are described as “pink and bloodshot” (122), illustrating his substance use and emphasizing his decline as a character. Jamar explains to Lionel that alcohol helps him dull his thoughts. Lionel feels that Jamar’s house “is an escape from school but [not] much more” (48). 

Jamar is a foil and cautionary example for Lionel, who soon sees that Jamar has chosen only to evade rather than solve his problems. While Lionel grows and matures during the course of the novel, Jamar is a static character who remains unchanged throughout the narrative. The novel does not indict Jamar, but instead hints at his inner troubles: Jamar’s self-destructive pattern is reinforced by his social context and traumas such as his mother’s death. Lionel understands Jamar’s sadness and pain, but ultimately rejects his way of life.

Lionel’s father, Leroy, is the central male figure in his life. Leroy struggles to keep the family together after Lionel’s mother is deployed overseas. Leroy works as a truck driver and is away most of the week. He feels guilty about his absence and often worries about Lionel’s education. At the beginning of the novel, Lionel thinks that his father cannot understand his school problems and feels distant from Leroy, who often emphasizes the importance of education and warns Lionel to take school seriously. Leroy wants Lionel to have a better life and believes that school, not basketball, is the way to achieve that. While Lionel feels that his father impedes his dreams, he desires to make him proud.

Ultimately, Leroy confesses his vulnerability and personal struggles to Lionel, empathizing with his son’s own challenges. The two reconnect as Leroy reveals his own learning difficulties and problems with reading and writing and confesses that quitting school when he was young was a mistake. Like Lionel, Leroy has also been embarrassed about his educational failures; now, he reveals to his son that he has been studying to get his GED—Denise isn’t a potential affair partner, but his GED teacher. Leroy also played basketball when he was a student. After father and son overcome their conflicts, Leroy encourages Lionel to work on his reading and writing skills and to join the school’s basketball team—suggesting that pursuing both at the same time is possible after all.

Lionel’s neighbor Ms. Walker is a former teacher and an old friend of his mother. Leroy characterizes her as “tougher than any dog” (31), portraying her as the strong Black woman archetype. She is an influential figure for Lionel: She has experienced tragedy, which gives her constant instruction on making the right choices added weight. Ms. Walker mourns the loss of her grandson, Russell, who was shot and killed while returning home from school several years before the start of the novel. Ms. Walker resents the gang violence that plagues the community and warns Lionel to focus on his education. 

The emotional impact of her grandson’s murder changed Ms. Walker forever—she became more angry and impatient in Lionel’s eyes. Lionel feels nervous in her presence, not knowing how to respond to her grief, and aware of the way Russell’s death traumatized him as well. Ms. Walker is the first to recite Langston Hughes’s poem to Lionel, telling him she had been teaching it for years. 

Ms. Walker has experienced discrimination and injustice, and seeks to guide Lionel. She tries to stop Lionel from leaving his family and school, since dropping out will undermine his parents and his community’s endeavors to ensure a future for their children. She suggests that through education, he could rise in the world instead of following a self-destructive path. Even though Lionel leaves for Jamar’s house, her words influence him and his growing consciousness.