A wise man once said, “Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason” -Abraham Joshua Heschel. Heschel in a high degree is true. Multiple examples demonstrate racism unjustifiably posing a “threat to man”. Whether discrimination is affecting someone because of their ethnicity, religion, or disability, it is all wrongfully imposed. It prevents people from completing tasks in life or doing what they want to do because they are shut down just because they are different from others. Through the examination of Lennie and Crooks’ characters from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, discrimination and racism negatively affect their lives, ultimately tearing them from their dreams. Crooks, an African-American man, is one of the few that have had his dreams ruined by racism. He is suppressed by the people of his country for simply being different. In a conversation he has with Lennie, Crooks explains, “‘There wasn 't another colored family for miles around. And now there ain 't a colored man on this ranch an ' there 's jus ' one family in Soledad.’" (Steinbeck 70). Showing his situation, Crooks also explains how he has been in a sense, isolated from everyone due to his color and as a result racism surrounds him. It’s hard for Crooks to get anywhere in life because of the constant harassment he receives from the simple fact that he is “different” from your “average” person. In a heated confrontation Curley sullenly says, “‘Standin ' here talkin '