Remembering Past Help

One of the books I have been reading lately is Kathryn Stockett's The Help. Stockett is a native of Mississippi, and her novel features the relationships among several Southern white and black women. Aibileen and Minny are the "help" in white households in 1962. Skeeter and Celia are the white women who awaken to the idea of a shared humanity. The novel has made me also reflect upon the only time my husband and I employed "help" in the 1960's.

It was 1969, and our daughter was four months old. We hired Lura to be Kimberly's nanny and to do light housework while I did my student teaching in a town about forty miles to the west of us. I have to confess that my life was quite full with all the responsibilities that go along with being a wife, mother, student, and budding teacher. It never occurred to me to develop any kind of relationship with the "help" or even to know anything at all about her personal life. I now see that period as being a lost time; Lura--I am sure--had many thoughts about the racial strife and the civil rights movement that were currently rocking the state.

I never bothered to ask Lura's point of view, and I am not sure she would have opened up if I had. The majority of blacks knew that speaking up about racial issues could put one in danger of being considered "uppity." Even though America has always been the place for personal freedom, the South still limited free speech and action in regard to black-white relationships at this time of our history. I regret that I did not try, however, to see Lura's point of view. The "help" might have helped me to understand more.