Systemic Racism in Novel "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

Abstract

This research discusses the problem of systemic racism as reflected in American literature during the Jim Crow era. The study aims to identify how racism operates as a structured system influencing ideology, institutions, and daily social practices, and how marginalized groups perform resistance to challenge oppression. This research applies a qualitative descriptive method using textual analysis. The data are taken from narrative descriptions, dialogues, and events that show racial inequality and resistance. The findings reveal that racism is not merely individual prejudice but a deeply rooted social system that maintains white privilege through the transmission of racist ideology, institutional discrimination, and everyday practices that normalize inequality. Meanwhile, resistance is portrayed through covert and overt actions. Covert resistance includes silence, humor, and solidarity, while overt resistance appears in direct confrontation and collective acts of courage. These findings show that racism and resistance coexist as continuous forces: racism preserves domination, while resistance becomes the moral power that challenges and transforms it.