Extra Credits: Race

Diversity, in it's more basic term, is diverse. To be different. Whether it's race, gender, religion, ect., it is what separates a character from others. It's also the key to shaping their personality and view on the world. Without diversity all characters would be the same and there would be no conflict, therefore no plot to any sort of art. Diversity is what makes a society, a society. It's the blend of all the cultures together.

While both A Lesson Before Dying and The Help both have main conflict centering around race, The Help uses the point of view from two ethnic groups to shape the views of the society. Minny and Aibileen face the challenge of being seen as a lower part of society because of their race. During the 60's the order of importance was white men, white women, black men, black women, so you can say they were considered the lowest of the low. They have to face being ordered around, using separate restrooms, grocery stores, refrigerators, and such, and dealing with constant bigotry of the ignorant white people.

At first they accept it because that just the way things were. But they soon grew to resent their bosses and decided to do something about it. They were going to tell the truth. This is monumental for the time because it was something never done before. Minny and Aibileen could have been characters that just used their race as an excuse for everything wrong in their lives, but instead they used it to help shape their personality and fight by using it, not going against it. They find pride in who they are, and use that to get them through the racist issues they face.

Now Miss Skeeter is through whom we see the white people's prospective. But she does not represent the white society as a whole. She shows us how some sympathize with the challenges African Americans face, but there isn't much they can do about it without greater societal consequences. Miss Skeeter shows us the familial connection that some children who were raised by maids, feel to the people who raised them, thus subconsciously being more accepting to blacks. She symbolizes the blindness children have to color and race, and the innocence they carry with them through their childhood. But her friends, Miss Hilly and Mrs. Leefolt show how that innocence doesn't always last. Society conforms them to believe in the division of races and how the two cannot intermingle. That's where Miss Skeeter is dumbfounded how society can turn their back on the people who raised them and have been a pseudo-mother to them.

Even in today society racism is still an issue. It's a learned practice from our parents. That is something The Help questions. How come, if you are raised by a person of a different race you can grow to think you are better than them? If racism is a learned habit, how do you learn it if you are raise by someone unlike you? I think this is where society comes into play. No matter how much you love someone, you always feel the need to be accept by your peers and will do what is necessary to fit in. I think this is the driving force behind how all the innocent little children grew up to be the small minded people they are. And why Miss Skeeter, who never felt like she fit in, except with Constantine, isn't shamed away by the idea of working with the help.