racism in the novel 'In the Heat of the Nigh

Throughout the novel , In the Heat of the Night, written by John Ball, there are many situations in which racism is incorporated. There are several characters in the novel that are racist, but their opinions are expressed in different ways. For example, the character, Sam Wood, usually keeps his opinions about racism to himself. The character, Bill Gillespie, expresses his opinions about racism vocally, but in a subtle way. The character, Harvey Oberst, expresses his opinions about racism vocally and without hesitation. All in all, each of these characters are clearly racist, but express their opinions differently.

To begin with, Sam Wood is one of the main characters and is racist towards a black man, named Virgil Tibbs. The first racial thought that was made towards Virgil, was “Sam saw that his face lacked the broad nose and thick heavy lips that characterized so many southern laborers” (Ball 15). This proves that Sam categorizes people by their physical features and thinks that all coloured people should have the same physical characteristics. Secondly, while they were exiting through the door of Bill Gillespie’s office, Virgil Tibbs did not take any time to wait for Sam to exit first, which left Sam quite surprised. “Ordinarily he would not have permitted a Negro to proced him through a doorway, but this Negro did not wait for him to go first” (22). This quote makes it clear that Sam believes white people are more superior to coloured people. Finally, Sam was evaluating the thought that it was clear Virgil would have a better chance than Bill Gillespie to solve the homicide because of his forensic scientist background and because Bill Gillespie had no crime scene investigator training. “He wanted the crime solved, but he w...

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...tty clothes and how Virgil is able to afford the types of clothing that coloured people wear. Finally, while Virgil was entering the jail cell Oberst made a racist comment “’put him someplace else I don’t want no nig-“’ (61). He is typically saying that he could not stand being in the presence of a coloured man. In brief, Harvey Oberst is a typical racist, who does not approve of coloured people.

In summary, there are many people who are racist, but show it in different ways. Sam Wood, Chief Bill Gillespie, and Harvey Oberst, all have something in common, they are all racist and just because they express it differently does not make either one better or worse than the other. What it boils down to is that racism is unacceptable in every way. All people are equal and should be treated the same regardless of their culture, race, sexuality, skin color, or nationality.