Final answer:
In Dr. Seuss's "The Sneetches," Mc. Bean offers a service to add or remove stars from the Sneetches' bellies. While this may seem helpful, it does not address the underlying discrimination and societal division. Mc. Bean profits from and perpetuates these issues without fostering genuine unity.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question regarding whether Mc. Bean truly helped the Sneetches is a topic derived from Dr. Seuss's story, "The Sneetches." This story serves as an allegory about discrimination and identity. Mc. Bean appears to help the Sneetches by allowing them to acquire or remove a star from their bellies. On the surface, this could be seen as helpful because it gave the Sneetches without stars the opportunity to integrate with the exclusive group of star-bellied Sneetches. However, Mc. Bean's seemingly helpful actions were primarily driven by profit and ultimately, did not resolve the underlying issues of discrimination and societal division based on arbitrary characteristics.
In the broader context provided by the additional references, the concept of creating an 'other' based on physical appearance is seen as a broader social issue, akin to the 'invisible weightless knapsack' described by McIntosh (1989) referring to White privilege. The allegory in "The Sneetches" can also draw parallels to historical forms of entertainment such as negro minstrels, which perpetuated stereotypes, and it touches upon broader themes of social inequality as illustrated in different literary works and societal attitudes about wealth.
From this perspective, it is accurate to assert that while Mc .Bean provided a temporary solution that superficially allowed Sneetches to switch between having and not having a star, he did not help in the sense of fostering genuine unity or resolving the root issue of discrimination. His services perpetuated a cycle of exclusion and inclusion without addressing the Sneetches' attitudes or societal structures.