The Real Message

                                    

                                          
  Racism is just about the biggest hot-button issue in America today. Indeed, there are many things said about it. But there doesn't seem to be a lot of truth to it these days.
  What I mean is this: in the past century, racism was about the continuing segregation of white from black, the oppression and social denegration of black and other minority communities. Now, it seems that the vast effort that has been made to get as far and as fast away from those darker times is all-too-conveniently ignored in pushing one simple dogma: That the white man must pay.
  But the white man has paid. Not only is segregation a thing of the past, but laws have been passed to ensure that all people in America have an equal opportunity. In fact, it has gone so far as to place minority members in line for a job before more qualified candidates on the basis that once, they didn't have the same basic right to have that opportunity like any white person.
  As a nation we have made every attempt, gone to every length, to make certain that minorities are treated with social equality, but where is the acknowledgement of that these days? Today, racism is not about segregation, or civil rights, or even slavery (which, might I remind you, has not been a part of America's economy since its downfall). Today, racism is about pigeon-holing white people into one giant, evil mass who all share an "inborn" prejudice against people of color.
  The goal of this book is to examine just what I believe was the true message of "The Help": That there is no gene that makes white people inherently bigoted. There is no gene that makes anyone inherently bigoted. There are only social preconceptions and those who choose either to follow them or not.
  Prejudice is not a racial trait. It is a seed that was planted amongst society by ideas, social cachet, and the raising of America's children. And I believe that Eugenia Phelan shows us that anyone, no matter their color, whether white or black, can find the courage and have the moral fiber to speak out against prejudice.