Too many times in a black man’s life has he walked into a store and be stared at or followed simply because of the color of his skin. In society the weight of your skin is more than your real personality. The way someone is treated should not be based of their skin complexion but by the way they live their life. The negative ideals associated with those of brown complexion are not only a historical yet current problem that the world faces. Sue Monk Kidd is able to relay these racist under tones, which remain relevant to society not only in the past but in the present as well, through trying situations in the book Secret Life of Bees.
If you look back on the time period that the book took place segregation was at its peak. Most blacks and whites didn’t see eye to eye on any situation, mostly due to whites that couldn’t accept the fact that blacks were free. These mindsets lead to diversity in society between the two races. The behavior of these races lead to bombings, killings, rapes and other unspeakable sins that most people didn’t care to acknowledge. People saw it as they were correct in all of their wrong doing and the justice system played a part in this as well. The people that were hired to protect the society were playing a huge part in destroying it.
There was really no type of law in the south so people were allowed to do anything they pleased. A lot of people stood and spoke boldly against all the wrong doing but soon enough they were targets across the nation. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and a few others fought against the trials and tribulations for inequality and true freedom for the people not just blacks but all the other races that face discrimination in that period of time as well. These men and others hav. .rves any treatment like this.
Sue Monk Kidd used this terrible situation to provide an extreme example of the injustices and hatred shared among the two races at the time. Racism has left a lasting impact on society and changed the relationship between the white and blacks. Sue Monk Kidd used Secret Life of Bees to shine light on the racial problems of that time period and how it affects society. Secret Life of bees was a great example of racial diversity in society. America needs to be healed from all these racial issues that we are going through. People need to realize that the color of someone’s skin should not determine their lifestyle and how they are treated.
Everyone is equal and should have the same fair treatment as the next man. Sue Monk Kidd wants people to learn a lesson from these different racial problems that she brings up in the Secret Life of Bees.
