The Secret Life Of Bees Essay

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a very well known book. It was a New York Times bestseller that brought to light the racism that plagued society in the 1960s and convinced people to wonder whether society improved since the 60s, or if it lingered in a state of racial discrimination. Looking at the evidence, racial discrimination has lessened over the past few decades, although there still exist areas for continued development in society.

Racial discrimination has descended since the 60s, as seen in politics with the now Ex-President Barack Obama, who served 2 full terms, as well as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. This does not mean that society has completely improved, however. One instance of this is that there are only 4 CEOs in the Fortune 500. Racism against white people has also increased over the past decades, such as how white people are grouped for the disgraceful actions of their ancestors, or how all of their opinions are invalid due to their “White Privilege”

To determine if our society is inherently racist, we must look to the past for the answer. During the time of The Secret Life of Bees,

It was a huge achievement for African-Americans and set a path to end racial discrimination. The movement did not completely abolish discrimination, however. In New York City, 80% of the stops made were blacks and Latinos, compared to a mere 8% of white people stopped, (dosomething.org) Another example is how there are only 4 Black CEOs in the Fortune 500, (theatlantic.com). Whether that is because of racial bias or because there are not enough blacks in the field is up for debate, however, the number still stands; 4 black CEOs represents fewer than 2% of all Fortune 500 CEOs. Clearly there must be some form of racial bias present here. These are just some of the examples of racism towards African Americans, however, there is also racism towards White people as