Sexism and racism are two problems that American society has been facing from the beginning of its history. Even though society is more open minded now, people keep judging and making stereotypes about others just because of their sex or race. In writing the book Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley touches on these significant issues that American society was struggling with in 1948. Through the characters Easy and Daphne, Mosley vividly portrays the struggle with racial and sexual issues that keep showing the constant presence of these problems despite of the fact that this story took place 67 years ago. The forces that pushed Easy to accept DeWitt's, one of the guys looking for Daphne, offer, reveals how Easy's racial problems influenced him to accept "the dirty job" that others do not want to do. On the other hand, Daphne is merely seen as a sexual object and because of that, most of the men in the story would do anything to gain her charms. Thus, she is solely admired for her beauty but never for the person she is or the difficulties she has to overcome. .
One of the issues mentioned that the book Devil in a Blue Dress touches on is racism, defined by Hanan Jezawi in her article "A Study of Mosley's Devil in a Blue Dress" in the Jordan Journal of Modern Languages and Literature, as the superiority of one group over another according to skin color (Jezawi 36). Easy, one of the main characters, is an example of how black people used to live and still do, and the difficulties they have to face due to their skin color. Also, being African American brings Easy disrespect from white people even though he fought in the war and risked his life for Americans. He is an easy prey for bullying, and just because he is black, white people have the preconceived idea that he is dangerous. This is shown when Easy is waiting on the beach for DeWitt, and a white girl starts talking to him.