Short answer: In Chapter 4 Crooks makes it clear that the racism he faces is everyday, local, and institutional — happening where he lives and works (in California on the ranch), not only in the South. Steinbeck uses Crooks’ past and his present situation to show that exclusion and prejudice were widespread.
- He lives and works on the ranch in California. Crooks is not a visitor from the Deep South; his life and complaints describe discrimination that happens where he already lives. That locational detail shows the problem is regional/national, not confined to Southern states.
- Childhood social exclusion: Crooks says white children played with him until he was injured, and then their parents forbade the contact. That memory shows how white families policed social boundaries even in non‑Southern communities — children were quickly kept apart once adults decided it was unacceptable.
- Segregation on the ranch: Crooks is forced to live alone in the harness room apart from the white workers; he is kept out of the bunkhouse social life and card games. His exclusion from ordinary social spaces shows everyday, institutionalized discrimination at the ranch itself.
- The emotional effect and bitterness: Crooks’ loneliness and his guarded, bitter tone make clear this is not just occasional rudeness but a persistent system that denies him companionship, respect, and the chance to join other men in normal activities.
- He doubts he could share the dream: When Candy and Lennie talk about owning land, Crooks initially lets himself imagine joining them but quickly rejects it because he knows society’s racial barriers would probably prevent a black man from being accepted or owning property in the same way. That skepticism links his personal history to broader social realities.
How to use this in an essay: quote Crooks’ lines about being excluded from the bunkhouse and his story about white children being kept away after his injury; then explain how these details locate racism in the everyday life of the ranch and the state (California), not only in the South. Steinbeck is showing racism as both interpersonal (neighbors, co‑workers) and structural (where Crooks is allowed to live and socialize).
Key theme connection: Crooks’ background and experience reinforce the novel’s themes of isolation and social injustice — race compounds his loneliness and narrows his prospects, demonstrating that racial oppression was a national problem, not limited geographically.