Dessa Rose: Court

Dessa exemplifies the concept of constructed knowledge very clearly in explanation of the court.  "She had no idea what a "court" was; she had never been more than five miles from where she as born before being sold... She understood "court" as white folks for trying to figure out if everyone on the coffle had been caught" (36).  Her construction of court is the reflection of white people's idea in the south of a slave.  They don't believe slaves are equal to that of men and Nehemiah is talking with Dessa to figure out how to continuously condemn this group of people.  Nehemiah soon learns how smart Dessa can be, she strategically answers all questions to give no advances to the story Nehemiah is looking for.