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Essay On Jim Crow Laws In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Atticus Finch once said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee, 39) In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee used factual events as an inspiration for her novel. There are links to the Jim Crow laws, Mob Mentality, and racism. The first connection to America’s history is the presence of Jim Crow laws in the novel. The Jim Crow laws were a set of strict anti-Black laws that became a way of life, mostly in the South, between 1877 and the mid-1960’s. The laws were used to keep Blacks at the bottom of the racial hierarchy. Blacks and Whites could not eat together. Blacks were introduced to Whites but Whites were not introduced to Blacks. Whites were considered superior to Blacks in every way. (Pilgram) The Jim Crow laws can be seen in the novel. During the trial, the Black people had to wait for the …show more content…

Racism intensified during the Great Depression because there were few job available, and Black and White groups competed for them. (Johnson) There are several reasons why people are racist. Some indeviduals with low self esteem use discrimminitory behavior to gain feelings of self-worth. Others fear changes that occur with increasing numbers of minority populations and diversity in the work place. The belief that one race is superior to others is another reasoon racism exists. (Routedge) During the Scottsborro Trials, two white women accused African-American men of rape in order to avoid being arrested themselves. (Johnson) The case of Tom Robinson has similaritis to the Scottsborro Trials. Both trials take place during the Great Depression in Alabama. The defendents in both cases were African-American men accused of rape by white women. The men were found guilty in both cases despite the evidence showing otherwise.

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