Her mother tells her to Think of William Woodson because he was the only black boy in an all-white school and he was able to make it through school due to his bravery and determination. Her mother tells her to think of him when she is scared and remember his courage and determination during that situation. The people who came before us help us to handle the situations we face in life because they must have once gone through that same situation and if we can remember that someone else has defeated this/gone through this, so can I.
because put it this way those characters you can relate to since your from the same ethnicity therefore having things in common if they do something inspirational or brave you will proud and think you can do it to because you relate to the character