The Help

I am so obsessed with this book and the social issues have lured me in so deeply, that it's hard to wrap my mind around them. Even though I'm almost done reading the book I'm still learning about the consequences that could fall on a white person that associated themselves with a black person (vise versa) even with the black person having their uniform. The boundaries in this book are very thick and it takes both strong readers to analyze the issues and dynamic characters to bring the reader through a complicated and deeply meaningful conflict.

The Help, the book collaborated by Skeeter Phelan has twelve stories of black maids and their working trilogy, leading from their  first domesticated jobs to their current jobs. The y also talk about the white women they work for, but these interviews are just fun and games. Medgar Evers is recently killed and other blacks are being beaten for simple things such as accidently using the bathroom for white people and the maids are terrified that someone will rat them out and possibly even kill them. One thing I found weird, was the fact that even though Skeeter has lived in Jackson, Mississippi all her life she never tapped into how harsh the life of a black person was and she didn't believe the possible punishments that she and the maids, like Minny and Aibileen, are faced with. Racism is such a big topic, but when you think about how it wires peoples' minds...it's unbelievable. I mean when Hilly wanted Skeeter to print her bathroom initiative stating that black maids should have separate bathrooms outside the house of the boss because of the "infectious diseases they carry" I wanted to punch Hilly out. She made that initiative out of sheer ignorance and didn't see it as a problem or rude thing to say. When Skeeter organized for toilets to be spread all over Hilly's front yard, that was the smallest bit of justice she could try to stamp into Hilly's mind to say she didn't agree with her nonsense.

Influence can control you, but strangely enough, even living in a society swarming with issues, you could walk outside and be completely oblivious to them, like Skeeter being unaware of the extremes of her actions, or complete and utter ignorance like Hilly.

How Justice is Slipped into "The Help"

In The Help, Kathryn Stockett focuses on a racially controlled era, when African Americans still worked for whites and separate bathrooms were constructed outside of homes for maids, because of the fear of catching "Negro diseases". Justice is a complicated issue in this book and Aibileen, Minny, and Miss. Skeeter are searching for the best and safest way for them to tell others about the injustice they've experienced.
Aibileen and Minny are both maids who work for dominant and complex white women, Miss. Celia and Miss. Leefolt. Minny and Aibileen have been working all their life and when Miss. Skeeter asks them to participate in an interview to go in her new book about the ups and downs about working for white women, they are extremely hesitant. Black people can get fired or worse for talking about their white employers behind their backs and Aibileen and Minny would have nothing if they didn't work. There seems to be no justice in the life of an African American because they are so constricted by what they can and cannot do. 
I don't see the white  people in the book as bad, but confused and shaped in a racist society that has influenced their way of life. Justice seems to be the last thing on Miss. Leefolt's mind because she doesn't see Aibileen as a friend even though she has been working for her and her family for several years. 
I think the main thing that upsets me about the injustice in this book is the fact that skin color can keep people away from each other and prevent strong relationships. I already know Minny has given Miss. Hilly, her old employer, a taste of what she considers justice by giving her a cake of something that is supposedly really bad. In Minny's case, her justice was out of revenge, but revenge just escalates problems and now Minny tries to avoid Miss. Hilly on every occasion to avoid starting a bigger problem. If Miss. Skeeter collaborates with Aibileen and Minny to make the book, that justice will be even more powerful because they're speaking out and letting others know what they're feeling.