{"id":782,"date":"2011-12-14T07:35:06","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T15:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=782"},"modified":"2016-10-14T16:53:35","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T23:53:35","slug":"the-help-black-and-white-and-red-all-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/the-help-black-and-white-and-red-all-over\/","title":{"rendered":"The Help: Black and White and Red All Over"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The 60s was a time when the relationships between the Blacks and the Whites grew embarrassingly red for many. The shame of it all is brilliantly captured in Kathryn Stockett\u2019s novel, The Help<\/a>. <\/em>It\u2019s not surprising then, that the book is an international bestseller.\u00a0 The author portrays three extraordinary women from Mississippi\u2014two black maids and the white daughter of a cotton plantation owner\u2014at a time in American history when segregation showed its ugly side to the world. Up until then, it had somehow been tolerated (and hidden), but with the 60s movements of equality for women and Blacks, those who\u2019d been discriminated against started speaking out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In 1963\u2014the time period of this novel\u2014my husband and I drove from Winnipeg, Manitoba (500 miles north of Minneapolis) to Tampa, Florida. Passing through some southern states, we were shocked to see colored only motels, colored only bathrooms\u00a0 and colored only drinking fountains. \u00a0I remember wondering why there was such a big divide. I didn\u2019t understand, as back in our part of Canada, I hadn\u2019t seen many Blacks, but the few I\u2019d encountered were integrated as far as I knew. I wondered about the term \u201ccolored\u201d.\u00a0 If the Blacks were thought of as \u201ccolored\u201d, then why weren\u2019t the Whites thought of as \u201cbleached\u201d ?<\/p>\n

I must\u2019ve been about three or four when I first saw a black woman walk past our home with her child. In my innocence (and ignorance), I said to the little girl, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you wash your dirty face?\u201d Understandably, the mother was upset, and my father who\u2019d heard the exchange, balled me out for my insensitivity.\u00a0 He explained that the woman was just like my mother, only she had a different color skin. He made me apologize.<\/p>\n

And then, when I was a year older, my Baba\u2014who was caring for me while my parents worked\u2014rented out a room in our home to a fine looking black man, called Crosby. He was very nice to me, and bought me a beautiful doll with curly brown hair. My mother was so appreciative of his generosity that she told him he didn\u2019t have to pay the next month\u2019s rent. Crosby didn\u2019t stay with us very long, as most of the tenants upstairs were young women and they complained that he was leering at them. Mom and Dad weren\u2019t sure if the girls\u2019 complaints were justified, but they didn\u2019t want a female rebellion on their hands. They were very sorry to see him go and wondered for a long while if they\u2019d done the right thing.<\/p>\n

Doing the right thing is a major theme in Kathryn Stockett\u2019s nov\"\"<\/a><\/em>el, The<\/em><\/em> Help. <\/em>S<\/em>he so deftly deals with race relations of the 60s, I was surprised the movie of it was described as the chick film of this past summer. That description does the story it\u2019s based on a disservice. It deserves a wider audience.<\/p>\n

Some think the race issue\u2019s been resolved with the election of a black president,\u00a0 but there are many others who think President Obama\u2019s ride has been tainted by those who still believe Blacks are inferior. \u00a0I don\u2019t recall another president in history who\u2019s had as many obstacles standing in his way. \u00a0A lot has changed since the 60s, but it appears there\u2019s a lot further to go.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 60s was a time when the relationships between the Blacks and the Whites grew embarrassingly red for many. The shame of it all is brilliantly captured in Kathryn Stockett\u2019s… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82,88,4],"tags":[232,78,34,229,83,9,230,231,233,131],"class_list":["post-782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-2","category-life","category-writing","tag-bestseller","tag-diana-stevan","tag-film","tag-kathryn-stockett","tag-movie","tag-novel","tag-president-obama","tag-race-relations","tag-segregation","tag-the-help"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-cC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":883,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/uncategorized\/a-korean-novel-shines-a-spotlight-on-mothers-everywhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":0},"title":"A Korean Novel Illuminates Mothers Everywhere","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"16 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s still a few months away from Mother\u2019s Day, the day we publicly\u00a0honour our mothers. I was reminded of mine, when I read the wonderful international bestseller, Please Look After Mom. Its Korean author, Kyung-sook Shin tells the story of a woman with dementia and how the ravages of that\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Please-Look-After-Mom.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1769,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/has-free-sex-killed-romance\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":1},"title":"Has Free Sex Killed Romance?","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"25 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u043f\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, unlike a few generations ago, couples engage in sex easily without a commitment. But has free sex killed romance? The Big Romantic Films Is that why Hollywood gave up on making big romantic movies? It used to make great ones like: Gone With The Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942), Dr.\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bridges of madison county","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/bridges-of-madison-county.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3015,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2017\/uncategorized\/writing-the-setting\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":2},"title":"Writing Settings For A Novel That Engages The Reader","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"18 \u0421\u0456\u0447\u043d\u044f, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Writing the settings for a novel is one feature of a Novel Writing Workshop I'll be giving at the North Vancouver library.\u00a0In thinking about my presentation, I thought I'd share a few things I've learned over time. Setting is the world of our characters. Without a backdrop, characters would have\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"writing the setting","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/different-nationalities-1743392_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1797,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2014\/writing\/giving-birth-to-a-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":3},"title":"Giving Birth to a Book","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"2 \u0416\u043e\u0432\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, I met with my friend, Karen Dodd, the author of the delicious suspense novel, Deadly Switch. She\u2019s been marvellous, coaxing me along, encouraging me, telling me that my book is more than ready. \u201cIt\u2019s well overdue,\u201d she said. She\u2019s right. My novel, A CRY FROM THE DEEP, has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Deadly Switch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Deadly-Switch.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2016\/writing\/writers-gold-found-memories\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":4},"title":"Writers’ Gold Found In Memories","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"31 \u0411\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0437\u043d\u044f, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Drawing On Memories With Easter come and gone, I'm struck by how memories, of what once was, hit me during this time. A few tears were shed as I recalled generations sitting around the table feasting on my mother's delicious cooking, followed by the cracking of coloured eggs and Ukrainian\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Memories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/IMG_6384.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1163,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/writing\/fiction-and-the-republican-party\/","url_meta":{"origin":782,"position":5},"title":"Fiction and the Republican Party","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"18 \u041b\u0438\u0441\u0442\u043e\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve just finished reading, John O\u2019Hara\u2019s Ten North Frederick, the national book award winner (USA) for 1956. In it, the character, Joe Chapin, wants to run for president in the mid-1930s. He\u2019s a Republican, rich, prominent and respected. What struck me about this novel were the ideas of the Republican\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/10-North-Frederick1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}