How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"A bill that requires every white home to have a separate bathroom for the colored help. I've even notified the surgeon general of Mississippi to see if he'll endorse the idea. I'll pass." (1.32)
Much of the racism in The Help is institutional. Laws like the one Hilly wants passed, which is shown endorsed by the Surgeon General, legalize discriminatory practices and reinforce racist opinions.
Quote #2
I knew he wasn't married to Constantine's mother, because that was against the law. (5.121)
Skeeter remembers when Constantine told her that her father was a white man. From at least 1630 until the mid 1960s, many states in the U.S. forbade interracial marriages (source).
Quote #3
I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty ain't a color, disease ain't the n***o side of town. I want to stop that moment from coming – and it come in every white child's life – when they start to think that colored folks are not as good as whites. (7.80)
This passage points out that kids are born with racial prejudices, it's something they're taught from the older generation. Aibileen works hard to keep Mae Mobley's mind from being polluted.