Examples Of Discrimination In The Help

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In the book The Help, there are many themes that can be found throughout the book. Written by Kathryn Stockett, The Help has a primarily underlying theme of racial prejudice and the social segregation of black people. A woman by the name of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a white woman, had decided to write a collaborative work with the essential assistance of local black help in Mississippi. Skeeter had been determined to reveal the truth about how it is to live like a black maid in the South. She told stories of how African Americans had to use different bathrooms than white people did and were treated very differently compared to whites and how black people were discriminated against, especially when a long-time family maid was fired in order to maintain her employer’s reputation. Concerning prejudice, not only are the black maids treated in an extremely different manner than that white people treat each other, but the entire …show more content…
One of the clear examples of discrimination and segregation is the whole incident of Aibileen having to use a special outside restroom built just for black people. The fact that this toilet needs to be built in the first place is certainly one example of discrimination, but clear racism is shown when Miss Leefold realises that Mae Mobley is being taken to Aibileen's toilet to train her to not use her nappies any more. Miss Leefolt is outraged at this and says to Mae Mobley, “I did not raise you to use the coloured bathroom! ... This is dirty out here, Mae Mobley. You'll catch diseases! No no no!” Mae Mobley is actually smacked repeatedly for using Aibileen's bathroom. This is a major example of discrimination and racism in the book, as it shows how the white ladies still believed