The world is full of prejudices and racism. Back in the 60’s racism was widespread in the US especially in the southern states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and South Carolina. Even though slavery was abolished in 1865 in American states, black people were still treated poorly and had fewer rights than white people in the 1900s. Although time has passed, the African-Americans are still viewed as criminals, rapists, other horrible stereotypes and as inferior to the white population and it is the same in the short story. These are some of the views and opinions the main protagonist has to witness and deal with growing up in the countryside in Alabama in the short story Jesse by Joy Boothe.
The main theme in the story is racism and racial segregation. It is because the majority of the story revolves around Jesse’s skin color and how it sets him apart from the white people. Despite the clear and obvious racism that occurs throughout the story, the protagonist and her father see through the color of his skin and judge him by his actions and not his skin color. The racism and racial segregation show when Jesse and the African Americans are referred to as niggers multiple times and by the fact that Jesse is not allowed in their house because he is black: “We can't have Jesse in our house because he's a nigger.”. The protagonist is also afraid to show that she and Jesse are friends in public because she is afraid that she might be judged by the white people present at the fish market: “There are other people around … I pray that the other people will finish their business and move on.”.
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