Racism In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

Racism is a very strong word. To many people, it means many different things. The actual definition is when a person or group of people feels superior to another because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or simply who they are. So pretty much what makes a person human. Every since the Americans first brought over the slaves from Africa, racism has been a problem. Since the 1930s, after the Civil War, racism still exist in North America, and in the most awful ways possible. From there, racism has changed greatly. It is difficult to say whether or not that change has been good or bad, but just the fact that it has changed should be enough. Think about it; before, humans were using whips and nooses, but now, people use guns and poison.
Racism has changed since the 1930s because little girls are no longer being thrown to the street to allow a white person to make them apologize like in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, white people aren’t asking black people to pay them to stay out of their neighborhood like in Raisin in the Sun, and women don’t need to run half a mile to go to a designated bathroom like in Hidden Figures. According to a survey put together through the New York Times and CBS, only 36% of the white-people interviewed say that police are more likely to use deadly force against a black person, whereas 75% of the black people interviewed thought that a police officer was more likely to use deadly force on a black person. (Norton, Sommers) This proves that racism is still a problem, more with African-Americans than any other race.
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In the 1930s, racism was rancid. In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred D. Taylor, a little girl slowly sees the world for what it truly is: a racist, discriminative place, where black little girls are forced to the side of the street to apologize to a white girl for accidentally running into her. She and her family were very lucky compared to the other black families around them. In example, one of the neighbor’s houses were burned down because they were accused of a crime they didn’t commit. Also, another man was tarred and covered with feathers. Though the Logan’s didn’t get the worst experience, they still had more of an experience than they needed. Everyday when the Logan siblings would walk to school, they were covered in head to toe in mud, because the cruel bus driver of the school bus not only refused to pick them up, but always felt that it was his job to ruin these poor children’s days and run over giant puddles full to the rim with the slimy dirt. As evidence on page 13, the author says, “He ran frantically along the road looking for a foothold and, finding one, hopped onto the bank, but not before the bus had sped past enveloping him in a scarlet haze while laughing white faces pressed against the bus windows.” (Taylor) Not only that, but the children received horrible books in the worst condition at the “all black school”. This was their first moment of realization that they will always be what the whites think they are. Scum. In addition, on Cassie’s very first day into Strawberry, she goes into a store to run some errands. The owner starts to fill her order, but eventually stops to complete every other white persons’ order before he finishes hers. He took his time to purposefully avoid Cassie and her needs, just because she wasn’t just a girl, but a black girl. To add to that, Cassie’s older brother Stacy’s best friend was caught hanging out with the wrong kids, and is accused of stealing a gun. This might have been because he was black, and he was best friends with a Logan, who has land many people think that they shouldn’t because of their race. The reason why it might have been because he is black is stated on page 248. T.J. (the best friend) says, “My mama… I’ll just tell her them white boys beat me up for no reason and she’ll believe him” (Taylor). Racism was definitely a problem here, even if the children were too young to realize.
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In more recent years, there has been a lot of racism, but it has changed since the 1930s nonetheless. In the 1930s, racism affected everyone, including children, women, and men, but as time went by, it was only the older teens and adults being targeted. In the book A Raisin in the Sun, a neighborhood that had only white folk was willing to pay the Youngers money so they wouldn’t move in. In Hidden Figures, all of the black “computers”, or women, had to work in a designated area designed just for them, half a mile away from the head of NASA. These women were underestimated just because of how they look on the outside. Fortunately, two if the women did get a promotion. However, even though they got the promotion, they were still being judged. When Katherine, one of the women, got promoted to work on the coordinates of the launching and landing of one of the rockets NASA was putting into space, she had an assigned area for her to get her coffee that was separated and untouched by the men who worked with her. Also, she had to run an entire half mile just to use the bathroom because there was no bathroom for her to use in the place that she was working in. This represents how racism changed because after her boss had found her gone for forty minutes, Katherine screamed it was because she had to run all the way across NASA just to relieve herself. Later, the boss went straight to the bathroom designated for her, and tore it down with a crowbar. The other woman that was promoted, Mary, was promoted to be an engineer, but that was impossible, since she needed to have taken a certain class that was only offered in high school, which she already graduated from. The only high school that was teaching this topic was a high school that taught only white people. Mary brought her case to the court to let her be taught at this high school during afternoon classes.
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Along with Mary and Katharine, other people were fighting for their rights.
In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a black nanny was going to get her voting license. She was very proud of herself, and dressed all nice and fancy so she can prove that even black women have style. As she is walking towards the town, three white men stop her in her tracks. As they ferociously ask her why on Earth she would believe that a black woman would be able to vote, she pours all of her spit that she held in a flask onto their shoes. Of course they fought her, and she didn’t fight back, but was arrested anyway. She had to get stitches on her head, then put back in jail, but was rescued by the child she was a nanny for. The point of this a was that this lady fought for what she thought was right in the country: black women voting. In the beginning of the book, when the nanny is describing what she did and why she did it, she makes sure she leaves out no details on how cruel the white men were being, which explains that the situation in fact did have to do with racism. In the movie Ernest Green, who is now known as the Little Rock Nine, was going to school as any other regular teen… except the fact that they went to an all black school. When offered the chance to segregate to the all white high school, they are all determined to graduate and do their best in life, but are robbed of that opportunity by all the students except one. They stuck with it anyway, and disregarded
all the snide remarks, and side conversations. Not to mention when the U.S. Force came to help them , they left the children to their own devices, but they made it through those harsh years anyway. In the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers, an African-American teenager was accused of a murder when he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Simply guilty by association. His whole trial was fought to keep him at home with his family and to prove that he was innocent. On one page, Steve’s mother was asking whether or not it was necessary to get a black lawyer instead of the white women he already had, making this evidence that the problem did involve racism.
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Today, however, racism is still there, but not as harsh as the past was. Many people are racists without meaning to be. It comes as a joke, something that is never taken seriously, but in actuality, it is more important than one may think. There are a lot of problems. Many could be accidental, but taken to harshly by everyone, but that’s not really how it is in most cases. What do the people of America do to protest racism now? They act even more violent and more distressful. Evidentially, there are more problems with cops and unarmed African-Americans. In an article in the Washington post, they say, “Many white Americans believe that the United States has entered a post-racial phase; many black Americans believe that race is as salient an issue as ever.” (Norton, Sommers) This fact shows how the men and women being affected by racism are more likely to say that yes, racism is getting worse, whereas a white male/female, the least affected by racism, would say the exact opposite. In example of where racism would be a problem was 9/11. On September 11, a few Muslims were attacking the U.S. because they hated the Americans. Now, many people will look at anyone who is Muslim and automatically hate them.Yes, this could go under the category of prejudice, but they are still saying that the person is horrible and will attack someone else if they get closer to them. Not to mention, the schools are just as racist as anyone. If they say race doesn’t matter, no matter where you go or who you are, then how come they ask children what their race and ethnicity is at the beginning of some tests? In an article in the Huffington Post, there was proof that ¼ of schools will pay their teachers $5,000 than teachers that teach in schools with more Hispanics and African-Americans. (Resmovits). This information shows how “seriously” schools are taking racism, and how this is a “great example” on teaching kids not to be racist, and that racism is just another thing that makes a bully.
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In conclusion, racism has changed since the 1930s.
Since the Civil War, all slaves had the right to be treated as equals, but instead are treated like tiny insects. They were no longer slaves, but were they really racially free? the answer to that is no. However, even if they aren’t racially free, they are still human. Granted, racism has changed since the 1930s, but really, how much? In Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a family was forced into fighting for themselves and their rights, because no one would do it for them. Now, people don’t have to do that, because it’s not only racism that has changed, but the world. Do you see a little girl with her head down walking through town just because she is afraid that people will comment that she is black and will hurt her? No? Exactly. You may say, well what about 9/11? That was an act of racism, wasn’t it? As a reply, one might say, yes it was an act of racism, but not one that had targeted the entire country, and revert family living everywhere, just certain parts of the country. Now, the only common racist problem would be the lives of innocent African-American lives being taken, but if we just forget about race, and forget about what makes a race, then the country would be just fine. As far as I’m concerned, there are no people anywhere who aren’t allowed to use a bathroom because their
race.