“There is really nothing more to say--except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must takerefuge in how.” When bad things happen to us, the first thing weask ourselves is “why”? Most of the time however, theanswer to “why” is not readily available to us, andsometimes there is not an answer at all. Racism hasbeen a concept which has existed from the beginning ofhuman civilization. For some reason, the “whites”believed they were superior to everyone who was notwhite for a very long time. There has always been amisconception that racism exists strictly against blacksfrom whites. However, Morrison shows the reader everyaspect of racism: whites against blacks, light-skinnedblacks against dark-skinned blacks and blacks who arewell off against poor blacks. The latter two are themost emphasized and the most prevalent in the novel. InJuly’s People, we see the other side of racism,theopression of whites. There are many answers to the question “why?” inthis novel. There is not just one answer to which itall can be narrowed down or traced back. Morrisonattempts to show the reader various catalysts whichexplain (or can explain) HOW racism affected thecharacters’ lives. Often, there is really not an answerto “why?”, although at times, the reader may come acrossto one of the many answers to this question. In the beginning of the book, the reader sees howthe blonde-blue-eyed white girl (woman) has always beenthe conceptualized ideal. Morrison does not (andcannot) tell us why this is and has been from thebeginning of time. However, she shows the reader how itis and to the extent it affects (and has affected)anyone who does not “fit” the ideal. From thebeginning, the reader sees how Claudia despises this“ideal” of beauty, knowing neither she, nor any of hersisters or neighbors could ever live up to. In anotherepisode i...
