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Since the second draft of Mo'Reece and the Girls, the playwright has included an epigraph:

"This is discrimination, pure and simple, the soft bigotry of low expectations."  –George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in 2000.

In the deepest parts of the ocean, under thousands of pounds of pressure, "expectations" shift, distort. Even the lowest can drift away out of reach by the steady motion of a current, while others, casting shadows through murky water, morph from obvious fantasy into the only way out. From that dark zone, having fallen off the edge of the continental shelf, all dry lands--Italy, Greece--appear equally distant, equally the beach upon which one might still wash ashore.

So I want to add to Bush's statement a second reflection on "low expectations," from Denise Riley of Pensacola, Florida, speaking about a year after Bill Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act:

"Ms. Riley recently warned her mother, 'Whatever I have to do to keep a roof over my head and keep my baby fed, I'll do it.' When her mother said this would surely not include bank robbery or prostitution, Ms. Riley offered no assurances. 'I said, Mama, whatever it takes.' " –New York Times, June 6, 1997.

What does it mean when meeting even the lowest of expectations requires doing "whatever it takes?"

The "Zones"

Two different interpretations:





















The second is from "Mrs. Reimers' Website," as is the following text:

Like a rain forest, the ocean has distinct vertical habitats, and most creatures live within one zone.

Sunlit Zone: Most ocean life is found in the top 600 feet (180 meters) where water is warm, sunny, and constantly moving. Plants cannot grow in deeper waters, so zooplankton and other plankton feeders must live here too.

Twilight Zone: Water temperatures here dip as low as 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Giant squid, sperm whales, and many fish live here.

Dark Zone: Water pressure mounts here, rising as high as 1,000 times surface pressure. There is very little food here.

Abyss: Thick mud covers this cold, dark surface.


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