Police Discrimination In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life Of Bees

The Fight to the Endless End
Police discrimination towards people of color was not only exhibited during the Civil Rights Movement but also through the entirety of Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, The Secret Life of Bees, this was displayed clearly through the hardships of Rosaleen and Zach; the bias towards the white community caused outrage and disharmony. During the 1960s, African Americans were still fighting for constitutional rights, something many people took for granted. They fought peacefully through protests and speeches, whether it was just one person or a thousand, no one had ever listened to them. These events are known as the Civil Rights Movement, beginning in 1954; however, at the time, the end was nowhere to be seen. People were battered, bruised, and even at

times killed by police forces and opinionated whites. Inspirations like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Park didn’t deter the tired and weary African Americans to fight, rather encouraged them to find an end to the endless conflict.

The battle was not only on the streets, but it was in the homes of every single person, something that is portrayed in The Secret Life of Bees, which took place during the Civil Rights Movement. Part of that battle was police discrimination, or police being bias towards whites, something Rosaleen and Zach dealt throughout the novel. Any bravery shown by African Americans was quickly shot down and even punished, but when a white person performed the same acts they were praised. This was clearly expressed within Rosaleen’s story. When going into the city, Rosaleen was approached by a few white men, after spurring her on she poured her “snuff jar” contents on their shoes. This caused the men to become aggressive and beat Rosaleen until she was bleeding. It did not stop there though, even when the police came and she was arrested, one of the men continued to assault her. The author depicted his violence by saying, “That was when the dealer lifted the flashlight over his head then down, smashing it into Rosaleen’s forehead. She dropped to her knees” (Kidd 35). The men that were harassing her were not reprimanded, rather praised by the police. It shows that the police

undoubtedly favored the white community. While Rosaleen was arrested for soiling someone’s shoes, another white man had performed extreme acts of violence and had no repercussions. This was not the only example found in this novel though, Zach had a very similar experience to Rosaleen. When Zach took Lily into town with him they ran into a few of his friends. The boys were sitting on the sidewalk, watching the white men wait for Jack Palance, a white movie star with a partner of color. After one of the boys made a comment about how Palance would never come to Tiburon, one of the men came over, fury evident on his face. The African American boy then threw his Coca-Cola bottle at the white man in front of him. Quickly after, every single boy was arrested. Kidd has depicted the anger that was held within the white men by stating, “This one had picked up the shovel handle from the sidewalk and was jabbing it in the air in the boy’s direction every time they moved” (179). The white men had much more power over the community, allowing them to threaten anyone they wanted with no consequences. While African Americans had to fear saying the wrong things, white men have rule over everything and everyone. These two examples are amazing representations of what truly went on during the Civil Rights Movement. Even though they faced such discrimination, the African American community never gave up. After the long battle, they came out victorious.