Chapter four of the book A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind is titled Skin Deep. In this chapter Cedric gets to MIT for the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science program and instantly gets a feeling of belonging even though he is so far away from home. All the students take a seat and listen to Bill Ramsey who is a black engineer alumni from the graduating class of 1951, but while he gives his speech Cedric notices that one of the counselors is white and questions why he would be there. When the white man, Leon Trilling, is called up to speak Cedric understands that this will be the man who selects which students will be allowed to attend MIT and he feels uneasy when he discovers that a white man will decide the fate of all these minority students.
As classes start Cedric has troubles trying to understand everything that is going on, the only class he seems to somewhat understand is calculus. As he gets more comfortable he starts speaking to some of the students, as he speaks to a group of girls they note that he speaks differently. This comes as a surprise to Cedric, but he tries to keep his talking to a minimum as much as possible to avoid…show more content… He is enraged when Andrew denies his request. Later, Cedric is alone in his room while all the other kids congregate downstairs eating and destressing. He avoids calling his mom in fear of having to express how much he is struggling to keep up with his class, but instead calls his friend Torrence Parks. After discussing his problems with him, Torrence advices Cedric to stick to his own because white people constantly use their power to make them look superior to other races. After the call he dreams about Cornelia Cunningham, a surrogate grandmother from Scripture Cathedral, who tells him he still has not begun to fight. He is left in a daze, but keeps her words in his
