Racial Discrimination In 'Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack'

Have you ever tried to do something, but your race kept you from doing it? This is a problem many people face in our world today. In the book Of Mice And Men, two men are new workers on a farm. When they get there they are not treated completely fairly as they have low socioeconomic statuses compared to the boss and his son. Throughout the book the two main characters talk about their dream of not having to work for a boss and owning their own house and farm. As we advance in the book we see that there is racial discrimination occurring when a man named Crooks was the only African American worker on the farm and was treated poorly because of it. In the story “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, written by Peggy McIntosh, she talks about what

For example, in the book Of Mice and Men it says,”Crooks, the negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn”(steinbeck 66). Crooks, the only black man on the farm was forced to sleep away in the barn, opposed to all the white men staying inside. He is being treated highly unfair for no reason other than the color of his skin. The fact that all of the white workers are able to stay inside with each other shows how they have a much higher power over him, just because of their race. In the book, Crooks is not thought of as a part of society, or even counted as a person. For example, when Lennie says to George, “I didn’t tell nobody, but crooks”(Steinbeck 83) about their special dream to save up and buy their own farm, Lennie is implying that Crooks does not count as an actual person and it does not matter that he knows about the dream, because he is black. There is a vast imbalance of power in the book between Crooks and a white girl that threatens him when he requests that she would leave his room when she says, “well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny”( Steinbeck 81). The white girl is threatening Crooks life, because she knows that if she wanted to she could lie and accuse him of something inaccurate and everybody would take her side because of his skin