In "In Search of Our Mothers Gardens," what happens in the absence of positive role models?

The answer to this question can be found by considering
the importance that Walker places on the role of her mother in her upbringing, and how
she acted as a role model for her, in spite of all of the troubles and disadvantages
that she faced as a woman and as an Afro-American. Walker places her success as a writer
at the doorstep of her mother, who gave her a drive to engage readers and an
appreciation for the transforming power of details. If we look at the poem that Walker
cites in this essay, we can see that she managed to achieve this without any formal
education herself:

How they
knew what we

Must
know

Without knowing a
page

Of
it

Themselves.

Though
such mothers were uneducated and lacked even the most basic literary skills at times,
they valued the importance of making education and knowledge available to their
children.

The converse then can be clearly seen. Without
clear role models who can do what is best for their children and provide them with such
an example of life and how to live it in the face of significant setbacks and trials,
children would be brought up without a proper respect for education, learning, for
others and ultimately, for themselves and what they are capable
of.