Theme Of Racism In The Help

In the story The Help by Kathryn Stockett, there are men characters who have less than nice things to say. One of these quotes is "All these houses they're building without maid's quarters? It's just plain dangerous. Everybody knows they carry different diseases that we do." (10). I find that this in so many ways this is extremely Racist. It is showing an inability to move past the discrimination of the past, and accept that we are all equal, no matter our race. The way that Elizabeth is being told this really helps to show how different views, have been pushed on others.

The color of one's skin does not define them; nor does it give people the power to define others. Kathryn Stockett's novel, "The Help" is an eye-opening and awe-inspiring story about coloured women speaking their truth. The truth is spoken through Skeeter, a white woman who believes that change is needed in Jackson, Missippi. After hearing about Aibileen's late son's idea about writing a book of what it's like to work for the white men, Skeeter asks if she could write a story about the help. A dozen maids tell their stories of what it's like working for the white folks, and with this truth comes consequences, betrayal, and the loss of friends.

Racism and its effects in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960 is accurately portrayed in The Help. Some examples seen are that the help can not touch the whites; they can not use the same bathrooms, plates, or silverware; they can not ride in the same car as whites; they can not eat together. These depictions show the debasement of the African American people just before the Civil Rights Movement and the beginning reactions of the work for equality. Watching this movie and seeing the undignified treatment towards the help opened my eyes to the greater effects of words. Of course this is not my first exposure to racism and its negative effects, but one can only learn so much about racism in a textbook.

America’s social climate is described as “the melting pot” while the underlying conditions in our current society has, and may always remain one of class, gender, sexual orientation and race discrimination. The origination of our nation began with immigrants seeking freedom from oppressive governments however the method of eradication or control of indigenous peoples and dominating over them became the norm. In today’s climate we have come a long way from dominant oppression and classes based on race and evolved into a subversive form of oppression. The Ethnic Studies course has enlightened my view of conditions and how films discreetly reinforce the stereotypes and class structures to maintain a particular ideology. For this reason, I chose to view the movie The Help because it is considered to promote the ideology of empowering black women during the tumultuous and dangerous 1960s civil rights movement in a volatile Jackson, Mississippi. While the movie delivers a powerful and intriguing theme, the reality is that Hollywood has yet again provided the Eurocentric view and classical style or naturalized ideology through stereotypical roles and dominant power needed to deliver the lower class (black women) to feeling empowered to fight the system.

The movie, The Help, is based on the book written by Kathryn Stockett. It was released in 2011 and directed by Tate Taylor (Taylor, 2017). The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s, and it is about the experiences black women had as maids for white families. These women decided to risk it all and tell their stories in an effort to show what is was really like for them (Taylor, 2011). The Help illustrates how these women fought racism and prejudice by becoming unified with one another. This paper will address how prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping, and inequality affect the characters and their relationships in the story.

“‘Don’t you ever wish you could change things?”’ (10). In Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s, woman ahead of her time, Miss Skeeter, proposes an idea to write a book about the lives of colored maids in Jackson. Aibileen and Minny, two maids, are among the first ones to agree to help Skeeter, despite the potential danger to themselves. In The Help, Kathryn Stockett creates an engaging and immersive world that explores racism and social injustice by using well-developed writing, the ideal amount of imagery, and strong characters.

The Help, A novel written by American author, Kathryn Stockett in 2009 tells the story of black maids working in white home. Setting in Jackson, Mississippi during 1960s, the society is obviously segregated into two groups, whites and blacks. Although there is some variety in economic and social class, race is the first determinant of a person's place and whether or not having right to access to educational, occupational, and economic opportunity. Racial tensions are high because white community members employ violence and coercion to possess the Civil Rights Movement from sweeping into their Mississippi town. The unfair practices of post-colonization make the lives of the town's black members so difficult.

In the book, The Help, Hilly Holbrook, a resident of Jackson, Mississippi, is distinctly portrayed as the antagonist of the novel. Her power and wit sustain her hunger for control among not only the “help” of the city but the socialites and newcomers of Jackson as well. However, She uses her height on the social status in town as leverage for her many schemes. Among the Junior League, new citizens of Jackson, and the initiation of new ideas to promote segregation in areas such restrooms within the homes of white citizens with colored “help”, Hilly empowers many southern whites at the time of the civil rights movement. It is through the portrayal of a female figure that the idea of segregation is enforced not only by the authoritative male figures of this time, but the dominant woman that drive the

“‘Don’t you ever wish you could change things?”’ (Stockett 10). In Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. A woman ahead of her time, Miss Skeeter, proposes an idea to write a book about the lives of colored maids in Jackson. Aibileen and Minny, two maids, are among the first ones to agree to help Skeeter, despite the potential danger to themselves. In The Help, Kathryn Stockett creates an engaging and immersive world that explores racism and social injustice by using well-developed writing, the ideal amount of imagery, and strong characters.

The novel The Help is plagued by many issues society faces today, but fails to realize. Just like in the setting of the book, none of the characters we deem racist think or know that they are acting this way, it is just accepted as a societal norm of the time. This much reflects our society in the present; we fail to realize that we discriminate. Much of this is embodied in the character of Hilly Holbrook, who, through her villainy, takes control over much of the "going ons" of Javkson, Mississippi. She promotes segregation and racism through fear and humiliates all who try to undermine her authority.

“Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color” (Author unknown). In the novel The Help, Kathryn Stockett uses real life situations back in the early 1960s to reveal the racial mistreatment of African American maids in Mississippi. The novel gave us to several flashbacks from the maids, then main character Skeeter was able to write a book on there insufferable working experience. Through characterization Stockett is able to present to us the violence, racial persecution, and racial mistreatment that these women had to endure.

Civil Rights literature has been in hiding from the millions of readers in the world. Kathryn Stockett’s book, The Help, widely opens the doors to the worldwide readers to the experiences of those separated by the thin line drawn between blacks and whites in the 1960s. Kathryn makes her experiences of the character’s, making their stories as compelling as her own.

Feminist theory is a term that embraces a wide variety of approaches to the questions of a women’s place and power in culture and society. Two of the important practices in feminist critique are raising awareness of the ways in which women are oppressed, demonized, or marginalized, and discovering motifs of female awakenings. The Help is a story about how black females “helped” white women become “progressive” in the 1960’s. In my opinion, “The Help” I must admit that it exposes some of our deepest racial, gender, and class wounds as individuals and social groups, and that the story behind the story is a call to respect our wounds and mutual wounding so that healing may have a chance to begin and bring social

Society has changed and evolved throughout time. Perhaps one of the most significant changed in contemporary American society is the treatment towards African Americans. “The Help” a feature film directed by Tate Taylor is based on the non-fictional novel “The Help” written by author Kathryn Sockett. The feature film explores the life of African American maids of Jackson Mississippi, in the early 1960’s. The 1960’s displayed all African Americans to being left out of the “American dream” through neglect and racism. African Americans faced prejudice and discrimination in almost every aspect of their life, from jobs to housing and even their education. They were denied the right to sit at the same lunch counter or use the same public rest

This code of conduct becomes the social norm, where most people see no other way of life.  They become completely oblivious to their wrong ways.  Provincialism of the caucasian minority is encapsulated by a quote from Mrs Holbrook, “They carry different diseases than we do.  That’s why I’ve drafted the Health Sanitation Initiative.”  Clearly ‘they’ is people of colour - this is absolutely false, yet people believed it.  A similar quote is used in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ , “Prosecuting comes from people who are prejudice”.  It would be impossible for children to escape these beliefs if their  teachers, who are pillars in their community, are ignorant of their own bias.  Stockett incorporated many examples of inequality and discrimination in ‘The Help’ , and gives readers an insight into the prejudiced actions of people in the 1960’s.