Novel to Film

When transforming a novel to a mainstream movie most of the time the very foundation upon what the novel is based on is totally restructured. The same theme holds true in the Devil in a Blue Dress. One scene in particular stood out to me and showed me that the movie was changed to be less offensive to certain people. One of the main differences I saw was how in the movie the race card was not as emphasized as in the book. The scene that stood out the most to me was when Easy went to meet Todd Carter. In the movie the scene with Todd Carter is business like and hostile at times. Carter does not give Easy answers to the questions he has for him and, there is no hint of racism Todd Carter just offers Easy some money to find Daphne. Compare that to the novel, the scene with Easy and Carter is much different. Carter is quick to tell Easy all of his problems and feelings. Easy says in the book it is the worst form of racism he had ever been a part of. Easy says Carter was so rich he did not even see Easy as a human any more.
Now the question is why would writers and/or director/producers choose to leave out on of the most controversial topics in novel. My answer is just that it is so controversial. The movie is geared toward mainstream American people and the majority of those people are white. The movie producers did not want any one to be offended by having troubling topics play a major theme in the movie.