Stereotypes In The Help

Introduction “Ladies, did you know that: • 99% of all coloured diseases are carried in the urine” (Stockett, 2009). In Kathryn Stockett’s book, The Help, the character Hilly Holbrook constantly pushed the idea that coloured people carry diseases different from white people, meaning they require a separate bathroom. Regardless of her lack of real evidence, she encouraged her friends and the rest of her neighbourhood to continue segregation by building separate coloured bathrooms for their maids and other coloured workers. This further fosters racist attitudes in her community, with children like Mae Mobley growing up listening to her mother and friends’ conversations about the need for coloured bathrooms. Despite the book being fictional, this
With scientific racism in mind, it does limit the reliability of older documents in relation to the topic. By analysing different occasions throughout history where a group of people are seen as unclean, such as segregation, Covid-19, and India’s caste system, we are able to find and understand the negative effects this stereotype carries on society. Segregation/Racial Cleansing As seen in The Help, past segregation caused great divisions between coloured and white communities; to the point where some racist ideals formed during that era are still carried out today. According to Isabel Wilkerson, well-known writer for her works on African Americans and social injustice, in her 2020 book The Caste, systematic racism in the United States was especially set in stone after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Louisiana's “separate but equal” law as states now had a formal, legal excuse to separate “dirty” coloured people from the “pure”
Yet even with the similarities, the Indian government refuses to acknowledge the comparison of casteism in India with racism, unknowingly promoting casteism in the process (Kikon, 2021). Although the government has tried to reduce inequality, with their Indian Constitution prohibiting caste-based discrimination, 30% of Dalits in South India and 38% of Dalits in Northern India have personally encountered discrimination (Pew Research Center, 2021). Discrimination in India has been instilled in their culture as a consequence of the past reinforcement of class differences and wanting to keep the elite “pure”. This reveals the consequences of the justification of social discrimination with its implications into culture. Conclusion After examining these instances of the association of groups with impurity, although many other instances with similarities and contrasts exist, it’s clear to see the harm it has on society. It not only places false stereotypes on minorities, but promotes the use of physical and verbal violence as