The Help Questions

1-. In your one words, write what was meant by “separate but equal.” How did people in Jackson Mississippi- including the ladies of the Junior League in “The Help”- try to apply this principle?

The setting of this movie is in the 1960's where a huge racial atmosphere was going. The phrase separated but equal, put into practice is inefficient because it only achieves segregation and racicism of colored people. One example could be when Hilly Hoolbrook builts an outside bath room for her maid, tring to separate black people from white. 

2-.Do a simple research about Jim Crow Laws. Identify what outcomes-forced upon domestic workers –were presented in “The Help”.

The Jim Crow laws were laws in United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de racial segregation in all public facilities, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The separation in practice led to conditions that tended to be inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages. 

In the movie, black people where taken as things or animals, that where inferior than white people, "My Evelyn?.” This quote refers to maids as things and not as human beings.

3-. Explore the themes in “The Help” and develop your ideas by continuing the following sentence:

“The maids in The Help took a risk by telling their stories. Even though they knew they could be shot to death in their front yards, they went ahead with the project. If people are not willing to take risk, solution to problems is impossible.