April Boatwright The Characteristics of the African American Women

within herself when she meets an educated, smart, and well-behaved black woman. T. Ray did not think colored women were smart. Since I want to tell the whole truth, which means the worst parts, I thought they could smart, but not as smart as me, me being white. Lying on the cot in the honey house, though, all I could think was August is so intelligent, so cultured, and I was surprised by this. That‟s what let me know I had some prejudice buried inside me Kidd, 2002: 129. It can be said even Lily just turns into fourteen years old but she has prejudice to African American women. Her father tells her that colored women are not smart like white people. It makes her also think that all African American women are not smart too. Therefore, prejudice happens hereditary in white‟s society and makes the problem of racial discrimination between white and black people is difficult to end. Aguirre and Turner said that prejudice refers to negative belief, concepts and stereotypes about people 2011: 29. Frazier also says the object of racial prejudice is not only for individual with certain observable characteristics but an individual who is identified as a member of racial group 1957: 275. As written, Lily has had a bad judgment about colored women from beginning that they are not as smart as herself who is white. She thinks that just because she is white she is smarter than colored women. Without realizing it, she discriminates August based on her skin color. In other words, she has racial prejudice toward August and other African American women. August moves to Tiburon after she taught history for six years. In Tiburon she works as a beekeeper. As written in the novel, August puts the black Madonna Virgin Mary label on honey jars but some people do not want to buy the honey because of the label. In the society, most people believe that the Virgin Mary comes from whites. Therefore, whites are condemned if there is another Virgin Mary that is black. I pointed to the honey jars. “Where did you get those?” He thought the tone of shock in my voice was really consternation . “I know what you mean. A lot of folks won‟t buy it‟ cause it‟s got the Virgin Mary pictured as a colored woman, but see, that‟s because the woman who makes the honey is colored herself Kidd, 2002: 105. From the quotation above, it is known that even just a honey jar that is labelled black Madonna can make some people lose interest to buy it. This result in a condition where the profit that August and her sisters make is not worth with the effort that they make to produce the honey. White people think the word “Black” relates with the idea of bad and dirty. The meaning of this idea is that African American people must be bad in terms of their physicall appearance and their attitude. The second practice of racial discrimination can be seen when the whites have the term to call one of African American women character in novel that is Rosaleen. The word Nigger is the impolite word not only for African American women but also for African American men. “Well, look what we got coming here,” he called out. “Where‟re you going, nigger?” Kidd, 2002: 51. The third practice of racial discrimination as written in the novel The Secret Life of Bess is in public places. Segregation according to Aguirre and Turner is a process of spatially isolating members of an ethnic subpopulation in areas where they cannot have the same access to valued resources as do people who are not isolated 2011: 7- 8. When Rosaleen was tortured by three white