Instead of preserving and protecting the legacy of the Founder, Dr. Bledsoe distorts and perverts the Founder's dream of lifting the veil of ignorance from his people. Rather than enlightening his students and providing them with an education that prepares them to contribute to society and function as educated adults in the real world, Bledsoe perpetuates the myth of white supremacy. Thus, pondering the statue of the Founder lifting the veil, the narrator suspects that Bledsoe is, in fact, lowering the veil and ensuring that his students remain in the dark. Bledsoe tells the narrator, who sees education as a means of achieving a sense of pride and dignity, "You let the white folk worry about pride and dignity — you learn where you are and get yourself power, influence, contacts with powerful and influential people — then stay in the dark and use it!" Like the mockingbird that befouls the statue of the Founder, Bledsoe makes a mockery of the Founder's dream.
Although he appears to be everything that Rev. Barbee is not, Bledsoe is a mirror image of Rev. Barbee. Seeing Rev. Barbee on stage in the auditorium for the first time, the narrator has a hard time distinguishing between the two men, both of whom are fat, bald, and ugly. Bledsoe also shares the Reverend's mannerism of "making a cage of his fingers" as he talks and, like the Reverend, he carries a white handkerchief (but his is embroidered in blue).
