Just watched the movie 'The Help'.....

[Butterfly Dawn]

Such an awesome movie.
Strange to think they weren't allowed to use the loo but their ok to care for the children.
My mum hit new Orleans on the 1st day integration took place and she was embarrassed by the attitudes of the white folk- many of them.
She kept it quiet that before she had left new York she had had a black boyfriend lol

Sent from my Galaxy with the barefoot princess covering me in kisses, so please forgive the mistakes

[YoYo]

I'm going to look up what this is all about. I'm on another planet at the moment.

We HAD a maid (helper) in Singapore, we loved her. some of the stories shed told me though....so awful.

Off to investigate!

[nickle730]

When I was a kid we lived in Asia. We had a maid, along with a cook, driver, nanny, gardener, guards and a 'house boy'. It was expected that because we were 'wealthy white people' that we would provide employment for the local community. I remember one particular Australian family who found it distasteful to employ staff and they refused to do so. They told people loud and clear that they felt it was demeaning to employ someone to wash their dirty underwear. Their house was burgled four times in their first two months in Jakarta. They soon provided employment for those who needed it.

Our staff were always well treated, paid more than the measly minimum wage and spoken to with respect. It was great always having someone around to play table tennis with and we could field a couple of cricket teams if we recruited some of the locals! We, as kids, were expected to still take our glass to the kitchen and although the plan was to take our dirty linen to the laundry you would usually find that by the time you were out of the shower the dirty clothes, including knickers had already disappeared!!

I don't think having staff, in itself, is demeaning or racist or in poor taste. I think the way that the staff are treated is what is relevant. And not all staff were treated as respectfully as ours.

I really enjoyed The Help, but I found it disturbing not that people employed staff, but that they believed that those staff were 'different' or dirty just because of the colour of their skin.

[blessedatlast]

I loved that movie.. It is so sad how they were treated.. Funny how they were looked upon as a lower class society but still good enough to look after the kids!! Strange concept..