Has anyone else read "The Help" yet?

[big brown horse]

I have been meaning to read it since this summer...then Sam got sick and I didn't have a chance to go to the library.

So I finally got it and it is a fantastic book. I have not made it through the whole book yet, but I can't put it down.

In the 70's I grew up in a small southern town that was behind the times (at least a few decades) in the way equality. I was originally from the north where folks didn't have "help". It was a complete shock to move to a town where there was a colored side of town and a white side of town. The public pool was segregated! (IN THE 70's!!)

Anyway, this book is GREAT! It is very well written too.

 

[freemotion]

I remember asking my mother about the signs on the two water fountains in downtown Eastern MA town. The one that puzzled me was not the one with the word "white" in it....water was kinda white, after all. I wanted to see what the colored water looked like. She was angry but I didn't know why until much later. I was too young then to explain it to. My folks were never bigots and were careful to expose us to many cultures.

This would have been in the mid-late 60's, so yeah, I can see it easily going into the 70's, especially further south.

Tell me more about the book....novel, true story? Etc.

 

[dianer29]

Unfortunately prejudice still exists . A physical sign no longer needed,attitudes and upbringing help spread the word. Have we really progressed in this area at all? Wake up people, no one is better than
anyone else and last I checked our insides were basically the same.............
Every small step in the right direction is just that, a step in the right direction. It gets old "hate" it really does!

 

[big brown horse]

Racism was insideous by then. There were no signs anymore but I heard many folk utter, "they know thier place" and stuff like that. The public pool was at the public park however you had to have a membership to get in. You couldn't sell your membership to anyone else and any guests had to be reviewed by the board.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. What perfect timing for this optimistic, uplifting debut novel (and maiden publication of Amy Einhorn's new imprint) set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it. (Feb.)

A good overview: http://www.thebookladysblog.com/2009/02/09/book-review-the-help-by-kathryn-stockett/

 

[Denim Deb]

I can remember reading that schools were no longer going to be segregated, and that blacks and whites would be able to go to the same schools. I was completely puzzled by this. After all, there were several black children in my class in school. And, they were treated the same as any of the other kids in my class. Nor could I understand why some people on my street were upset when a black woman moved into the duplex next to me. I use to go over and visit her all the time. It wasn't until I got a little older than I understood.

To me, color makes no difference. I have cousins that are half Japanese. I have 2 nieces that are adopted from India. One of my best friends in high school was a black boy. (I think he liked me, but knew I didn't feel the same about him, he was just a very good friend. I lost contact when we graduated, and would love to meet up w/him again.) It's not unusual for my kids to bring home friends that are black, latino, or whatever. They're all welcomed the same.

Nor do I hold w/all this political correct garbage. To me, the terms black, white, red, yellow, brown or whatever are descriptive terms only. It does not tell you about a person, other than what color their skin is. I could care less if you're pink w/purple polka dots, have orange hair and yellow eyes. That's not what's important.

 

[Wifezilla]

We read this book for our bookclub. For those of us raised "up north" or as military brats, it was very shocking. For the women raised in the south, it was just the way was.

 

[i_am2bz]

I can remember reading that schools were no longer going to be segregated, and that blacks and whites would be able to go to the same schools. I was completely puzzled by this. After all, there were several black children in my class in school. And, they were treated the same as any of the other kids in my class.

Not all schools were segregated. My parents went to different integrated schools in the 30s & 40s ("up North" of course).

The whole prejudice thing - spitting & jeering at kids trying to go to school, having to call out the National Guard, etc - is completely & totally bizarre to me.

Belonging to a multicultural family (black, white, Latino), I know you should "judge" (probably not the right word) each person on their individual merits (character, behavior, values, etc). IMHO. Everyone is different.

 

[~gd]

Unfortunately prejudice still exists . A physical sign no longer needed,attitudes and upbringing help spread the word. Have we really progressed in this area at all? Wake up people, no one is better than
anyone else and last I checked our insides were basically the same.............
Every small step in the right direction is just that, a step in the right direction. It gets old "hate" it really does!

Before Affirmative Action I used to search out Black professionals(Doctors Lawyers & etc) to help me, my reasoning was that they had to be very good,(better than the run of the mill whites) to gradulate. Affirmative action ended all that and I have gradually drifted to sticking with my own except where I had strong recommendations. call me a bigot if you must.

 

[freemotion]

"Sticking with my own" is the indicator. :/

 

[~gd]

"Sticking with my own" is the indicator. :/

FUNNY if whites do it we are bigots, if people of color do it it is just natural