“Watch
a documentary of the South in 1968?” Sounded interesting - “Sure!”
But
The Help was very dramatic; it's not a lecture - surprise! It's a
true-to-life, novel-to-film story of 68 in Jackson Mississippi - and
"the help" was the reference title of black women who
served as maids for high-class men-minded women in bridge cliques –
who ASAP after high-school, wanted a wedding.
Black
people were, quote, "separate, but still equal".
Equal
with distance-kept bus seating?
And
separate restrooms? "You're my equal, but I will protect my
children from 'your diseases' …..and enrage my husband with the
price of your outdoor bathroom." =)
One
maid was fired immediately after sneaking into the indoors restroom
during near tornado weather. She trudged home in the storm, and later
fretted to a friend on the phone. When the friend heard screaming and
pleading and an angry husband, she hung up shaking.
It
suddenly scared me to think the police wouldn't've come.
"Equal!
...and you'll go to jail if you move textbooks between white and
black schools. It's illegal."
Equal,
and different restaurants.
Equal,
and I-call-you-by-your-name-and-you-address-me-ma'am-if-I'm-white
-"but you're still my equal."
One
of the main characters, an against-the-quo singleton redhead, looking
to simply publish the maids' stories of their treatment, quickly saw
the anxiety and fear she was causing for the maids she tried to
interview - even though they were friends.
It
was prison-worthy if they were discovered sharing, that they
sometimes felt like the personal belongings of the family they worked
for;
some
telling their opinion that the irresponsible priss of the house
should not be having children - she was leaving her toddler in filthy
diapers from the time the maid left - at dinner - till the time the
maid arrived after breakfast the next morning.
One
of the belles sugared-up that she was "as a Christian woman,
paying a favor to her help" by not giving her a loan for a son's
years-saved-for college - and the maid" would thank her one day"
for being forced to find $75 herself.
That
was normal life for African-Americans?
So
recently??
It
was pretty dumbfounding to me – maybe especially so because before
I knew practically nil of what had gone on. And the Civil Rights
Movement had been “back in an ancient time period” to me.
“Cuz
it was right around wander-the-world hippie era – and THAT was
…...ancient.”
But,
“Um, wait. My dad
was only born in '66!”
It
makes even more sense to me now, that racism is a tough topic in the
States - because
the norm was only so recently flipped.
After the movie, my
American friend S (interestingly, a history major) was explaining
that we can't be “tsk”ing the nationals in this Middle Eastern
country, for being prejudiced towards their maids from different
countries.
Slavery
was only “officially stomped on” 12 years ago in this area; in
fact, the father of someone a friend knows, used to be
a slave trader.
That sounds so alien
to me - it's just normal for them.
30-50 years ago, before
the Gulf became so rich, and these big cities were blowing sand with
nomadic bedouins, S. said the families could feel much more trust and
friendship with their maids.
At this point, since
so many countries can fly these ladies anywhere, the employers
generally have no history or relationship with their maid.
If they want to simply
hide her passport and give a sparse boarding, she becomes a slave.
No pay, so no way to
get back the probably thousands of miles home, can't even buy a $10
cell phone and SIM card to let family know you can't get out. [FYI,
anyone and everyone can get a phone =)]
So, since seeing that
movie, I'm understanding how important MLK Jr's dream was.
And I'm also now
surprised at how much America has changed since the beginning of his
dream...though S. recommended a book, “Black Like Me” written
some time after the civil rights uprising, from the view of a
disguised Caucasian man (he actually changed the color of his skin
with a drug).
That is supposed to be
shocking still!
If the Middle East, or
any nation feeling superior, were to reach the point of equality that
the West has (and equality is probably still a subtle struggle for
some in the West), it will take maybe several hundred years for the
same adjustment we've had since African-American slavery started
about 350 years ago in the colonies.
That's
a long time – unless the Middle East has a change of Heart... =)
