Mr. Moore|آقای مور

By ( 88 )

“65th story”

A story by Laleh Chini:

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I moved to the USA when I was in late 16. The only English I knew was “hello” and “how are you?”

In September 1986 I attended Grade 12 in George Washington High School at Charleston, West Virginia. Not knowing enough English to attend high school was a hard challenge.

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For every single subject that I needed to complete to be able to graduate, I had to work triple hard. I had to find every single word in the dictionary to understand every subject.

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But it was a great achievement for me and I was very excited and positive about it. Months passed and I was getting better in English and was speaking slowly but more smooth. My English teacher was very kind and patient with me, she talked slowly and clearly to make sure I understood. My Algebra teacher loved me because I always handed in neat homework and got A+ in his class. All the students and other teachers were super nice and never made fun of my baby steps in learning English.

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There was a very tall white man in his late sixties, always shaved. He had white hair, blue eyes and his face was mostly red. He was very serious and looked angry all the time. His name was “Mr. Moore”. He wasn’t nice to anyone, but he was even more unkind to me and a girl from El Salvador. He was our Biology teacher and no matter how polite I was and how hard I worked in his class, he always gave me an “F” for my work. After months of trying, I realized if I continue this way, I wouldn’t be able to graduate. I went to the Grade 12 Councillor, Barbara. She was a white chubby lady with a beautiful smile. I remember that I cried a lot in her office and explained my situation. She mumbled: “Oh, that racist….”

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And continued: “My dear don’t you worry at all. I will transfer you to another Biology class.”

I grudged and said: “What about the months of “F’s.”

She got up from her desk, held my hand and took me to Mr. Huffman’s office and told him: “She is another one of Mr. Moore’s students set aside for sacrifice. She is getting good grades in other classes. I want her in your Biology class. She needs to graduate. She needs our help.”

Mr. Huffman said: “Oh dear, Mr. Moore did it again?!”

I really didn’t understand on that day what they were talking about until I got C+ in Biology and graduated with other students, and realized all those F’s was out of racism not my poor English.

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Dear friends:

You can purchase my book “Climbing Over Grit” Winner of “Canada Book Award” at;

Barnes & Noble, Gardners, Bertrams, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com and all bookselling channels via hubs in the US, UK, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and Australia. The links are listed below:

http://l-aleph.com

http://www.wisehouse-publishing.com

https://m.barnesandnoble.com

http://www.baker-taylor.com

https://www.gardners.com

https://www.bertrams.com/BertWeb/index.jsp

https://www.whitcoulls.co.nz/product/climbing-over-grit-978917637553237903

Our Book Page is:

http://l-aleph.com/project/climbing-over-grit/

http://l-aleph.com/our-authors-2/

Join me at:

lalehchini.com

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twitter @chini_laleh

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Categories: bedtime story, fable, folk tale, StorytellingTags: , ,

88 comments ›

  1. noir622224124
    November 15, 2018 • 1:05 pm

    Great job. I live in Italy but i went in an American school and I didn’t know Italian and it’s been very hard for me….I can understand you really well.

    Liked by 3 people

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  2. hassanmosleh
    November 15, 2018 • 1:56 pm

    Great story indeed because unfortunately we still see this problem more often around the world and I loved your reaction, good job 👏

    Liked by 4 people

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  3. lillyevechristie
    November 15, 2018 • 3:06 pm

    Your hard work and dedication paid off, Mr Moore will get his come-uppance, if he hasn’t already! nasty little men like him ALWAYS do. Isn’t it nice to hear about those other lovely teachers who helped you, good always outweighs bad x

    Liked by 6 people

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  4. Ancient Skies
    November 15, 2018 • 4:11 pm

    What a beautiful story about overcoming prejudice. I’m so glad for the kind people God placed in your life back then!

    Liked by 3 people

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  6. Rosaliene Bacchus
    November 15, 2018 • 5:17 pm

    Well done, Laleh. You worked hard, persevered, and succeeded. You’ve just published a book in English. I wonder what your Mr. Moore has achieved.

    While struggling to learn Portuguese during my Brazil days, I left behind several individuals like your Mr. Moore as I moved up as an international trade professional.

    Liked by 4 people

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  7. Orvillewrong
    November 15, 2018 • 5:23 pm

    Wherever we go in our world, there will always be one marrow minded bigot!

    Liked by 3 people

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  8. Valerie Cullers
    November 15, 2018 • 6:23 pm

    So sorry about Mr. Moore! What he was missing by not helping those that needed help and being kind to those that were really trying! He was the big loser in this story!!!

    Liked by 2 people

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  9. kutukamus
    November 15, 2018 • 9:11 pm

    I’m really glad you’ve made it! 🍸

    Liked by 3 people

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  10. URBAN HIJAB
    November 15, 2018 • 9:36 pm

    Yup. That’s how they keep certain people down. Thankfully Ms. Barbra knew what the problem was and was willing to help. Yup. That’s how they’ve been doing it… ALL THE TIME.

    Liked by 3 people

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  11. Sean D. Layton
    November 15, 2018 • 9:41 pm

    It’s sad that a teacher would do that, but I’m glad you overcame it. There are too many small-minded, hard-hearted people like Mr. Moore who make the world a more difficult place than it needs to be. I mentioned in the comments on one of your other posts about the math teacher in England who made fun of me. He also mocked me for being part Irish (my mother’s parents were from Galway). There was no love lost between the English and the Irish and Irish jokes were very popular at the time. I was only eight, so didn’t understand the depth of the situation, but it still shocked me to be treated that way.

    Liked by 4 people

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  12. mitchteemley
    November 15, 2018 • 11:12 pm

    Oh, that all might be rescued from the Mr. Moores of this world!

    Liked by 3 people

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  13. Todd
    November 15, 2018 • 11:20 pm

    I am learning a new language right now, and even after years of study I can’t imagine trying to study algebra or biology in Hindi. I am so impressed. But wow – people like Mr. Moore make me embarrassed to be American sometimes. But I’m so glad you were able to find so many other people that were able to help. For me, those special teachers – the ones who cared about their students as if they were their own children – were also memorable and some of them I still am in contact with to this very day.

    Liked by 2 people

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  15. derrickjknight
    November 16, 2018 • 11:19 am

    And look at you now. So very well done. (I could never fathom algebra)

    Liked by 1 person

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  16. berinaberrry
    November 16, 2018 • 4:29 pm

    I don’t know what was wrong with my eyes. Many teachers said I looked at them in a rude way, well, I do not know how rude eyes looked like, but they gave me a hard time. I am glad you graduated and hope life goes on well for you. Keep trying.

    Liked by 1 person

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  17. Warren Richards
    November 17, 2018 • 4:18 am

    His name was mr. Moore, but he didn’t learn to live up to his name; the more love you showed, the less he truly knew how to appreciate it! Blessings!

    Liked by 1 person

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  18. Nasuko
    November 17, 2018 • 9:38 am

    You are Diligent person！：D

    Liked by 1 person

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  19. Nautilus
    November 17, 2018 • 8:29 pm

    Was he indeed racist or merely xenophobic? You and your colleague were imigrants. If you had been a tall blue-eyed blonde coming from Poland, Belarus or South Africa, would he have given you better marks?
    True racism is kept hidden, but xenophobia is more common and sometimes openly expressed.

    I think we are experiencing nowadays a new form of racism when we speak of “good” or “bad” genes; this is the “genoism” coined in the movie “Gattaca”.

    Liked by 1 person

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  20. Subbashini Meenakshi Sundaram
    November 19, 2018 • 9:18 am

    Lovely post, thanks for sharing. Keep on inspiring

    Liked by 1 person

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  21. aruna3
    November 19, 2018 • 1:41 pm

    Beautiful experience and interesting book .🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

    Liked by 1 person

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  22. Roy McCarthy
    November 20, 2018 • 2:44 pm

    Paperback ordered. This deserves to be read. As a volunteer reader with young children I know how important it is in future life to master reading at a young age. To do it in a foreign language at a later age is remarkable.

    Liked by 1 person

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  23. Ultra
    November 25, 2018 • 1:59 pm

    I think it’s worth making other teachers read. If somebody does not love children, he should not work at school.
    Best wishes.

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. ForgivingConnects
    December 5, 2018 • 9:45 pm

    Laleh, this is a wonderful post. Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I imagine you had challenges being in school as an immigrant. I worked with a client recently on getting free from beliefs she learned when she was younger after just moving to the US, they had really held her back. 💖 Good for you for graduating from High School like that!! Blessings to you. Debbie

    Liked by 1 person

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  25. Equipping
    December 7, 2018 • 1:35 am

    Thanks for following my blog, and for your likes of my posts; you are very kind.

    Liked by 1 person

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  26. Ankur Mithal
    December 11, 2018 • 4:58 am

    Unfortunate. Thankfully you had support systems that allowed you to talk about it and get it rectified.

    Liked by 1 person

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  27. Ben Naga
    December 12, 2018 • 3:19 pm

    Hopefully one day there will be less Moore types.

    Liked by 2 people

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  28. Sadje
    February 24, 2022 • 8:48 am

    I’m glad some people were kind and understanding. Racist people are the worst as they don’t even try.

    Liked by 1 person

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  29. Martina Ramsauer
    February 24, 2022 • 9:27 am

    Some times I have the impression, despite the fact that these situations are difficult to bear, that they make us stronger! Many thanks, Laleh, for this touching story:)

    Liked by 1 person

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  30. utahan15
    February 24, 2022 • 12:38 pm

    a bigot
    sired from hate s spigot
    how sad and bad
    he was for you
    and anyone around him
    to immigrate
    is hard enuff

    Liked by 1 person

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  32. Cindy Georgakas
    February 25, 2022 • 11:01 am

    wonderful story once again Laleh … the f’s and c’s reminded me of getting my daughter to graduate and she did make to college and is killing me in salary now.. hahaha 🤣

    Liked by 1 person

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  33. markbierman
    February 25, 2022 • 12:30 pm

    Great story about your life. Both of my parents came from Holland after WWII and they had to learn English as well.

    Liked by 1 person

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  34. usfman
    March 2, 2022 • 10:55 pm

    Can you imagine the prejudicial backlash that Russian students are going to receive in other countries now?

    Liked by 1 person

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  35. Jonathan Caswell
    March 4, 2022 • 8:18 pm

    Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
    A BIOLOGY CLASS SAVE!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

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