I just finished The Help yesterday afternoon. Yep, only took me 4 days! It took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did I couldn't put it down. In fact I dreamt about it. Alot.
I won't give away too much in case you want to read it, but it is a book about black maids in Jackson, Mississippi who work for white people in the 1960's. It gives their stories and perspectives, but also a third perspective from a white person trying to tell the story.
Some of you know, I grew up in Sugarland, Texas. I remember not knowing the difference in the color of skin until I was in first grade. It never mattered. My best friend was a girl named Wellina. She was a plump black girl who lived across the street from us. Her dad was black and her mom was white. I remember playing in their garage one day and we were asking each other about our skin colors. I remember we asked each other if we tasted like chocolate or vanilla. We decided to lick each others cheek to find out. Now it being summertime, in Texas of all places, we were sweaty and sticky. The only thing we tasted was salt. We both said "Yuck" laughed and never brought it up again.
The next year we moved to another part of town and I had to change schools. Fort Meyer, I believe, was the name of the school. I was ONE of only a handful of white people in this school. But I still knew no different. We all played together. The only groups we formed were boys against girls. My best friend at the time was named Asia. I loved going to her house because she had so many siblings. My mom told me they had cockroaches the size of cats!
The following year we moved to Sandy, Utah. It was different. There were no colored people in my class. It. Was. Strange.
I am so glad that things have changed and evolved over the years. I am glad that there is not as much segregation as their was in the early years. I do, however, feel that we are starting to change. That everyone is beginning to fear everyone again.
There is a quote at the end of the book that I love.
"Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I thought."
There are SO many great messages in this book!
