Summary: The Secret Life Of Bees

special outside washroom just for black people and not letting black people into stores or hotels in The Secret Life of Bees. Black maids are not allowed to use whites’ washroom and the guest washroom as white people think they carry ‘disease’ that will transmit to them through using the same toilet. “‘I did not raise you to use the colored bathroom!’ I hear her hiss-whispering, thinking I can't hear, and I think, Lady, you didn't raise your child at all. ‘This is dirty out here, Mae Mobley. You'll catch diseases!’” (Stocklett 102). Miss Leefolt does not allow her daughter, Mae Mobley, to use Aibileen’s washroom as she thinks black people carry disease. Black maids cannot use their employers’ washroom either so they have to use their special
outside washroom built just for them. The stereotype that white people have on the black people is irrational as disease is not carried by a race or skin colour and being born as a black person does not mean he is dirty. It is ironic that it is acceptable for a black maid to clean up a white family or raise their children but it is unacceptable for them to share the same facilities as they are ‘dirty’ and carry ‘disease’.
In addition, laws and rules are created because of racism in order to separate people in society. “I read through four of the twenty-five pages, mesmerized by how many laws exist to separate us. Negroes and whites are not allowed to share water fountains, movie houses, public restrooms, ballparks, phone booths, circus shows. Negroes cannot use the same pharmacy or buy postage stamps at the same window as me” (Stocklett 256). Laws and rules are created because of the presence of racial segregation in society. They are enforced to restrict black people from entering white stores and sharing the same facilities with white people, such as public washrooms, water fountains, and theatres. These laws outline the segregation between white people