A Portrait of Racism

Chapter 4 in Of Mice and Men, paints a very realistic portrait of racism in the 1930s.  Discuss at least two ways in which racism is explored in this chapter.  Include quotes and your own analysis of key moments in this chapter that clearly demonstrate the racism that existed in the American 1930s.  What do readers understand about racism as a result of reading this chapter?


Two ways that racism is explored in this chapter is that Crooks, a negro stable buck, and he is colored so he get's his own room and can't go into a white's room, so he yells at Lennie and Candy for being in his room.  Another way is that Curley's wife takes advantage of Crook since he is black, poor, and lonely (most of the time) and threatens him that he can't do anything bad to her.  Crook reveals his anger to Lennie by telling him, "You got no right to come in my room.  This here's my room.  Nobody got any right in here but me" (Steinbeck 68).  He tells his story of that he is black and is treated unfairly and has to be lonely to Lennie, but Lennie doesn't seemed to care and knows that he has George around.  Crooks is treated pretty rough at the end when he told Curley's wife "You got no rights comin' in a colored man's room.  You got no rights messing around in here at all.  Now you jus' get out, an' get out quick.  If you don't, I'm gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more" (Steinbeck 80).  Curley's wife just calls him a "nigger" and threatens him that she will do something bad and that he better not talk like that.  In the 1930's racism was based on the color of your face (African American) and also because of this the colored people didn't really want anybdy coming into their privacy/room since they were mistreated. 



Police brutality racism in the 1930's:

Racism explored in Of Mice and Men was the skin color in which blacks and whites were segregated and people with less money and poor quality/background were put aside from the rest.  Some people like Curley's wife will try to take advantage and controls of the black where as a few people like Candy would try to defend the black person because they feel skin colored people should't be treated that way.  In reading this chapter readers can understand about racism being as a way to treat people unfairly because of their skin color and then give them the worst job like Crooks was assigned the stable buck person.  Even though Crooks didn't want to have a personal room and wanted company he couldn't be with the whites so he had to stay lonely hoping things would go better.  He yells at Lennie and Candy for being in his room because he is treated unfairly and doesn't want people to come in his privacy/room, which reflects how people reacted and felt during the 1930's.



I found a video on the racism in the 1930's (1930s: The Great Depression and Racial Segregation):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KebHqCxOGZY