Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird took place during the 1930s, a period shortly after the American civil war in Maycomb County, Alabama, the deep south where black people suffered from racism and discrimination. In this book, Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman, which was something that he’s never done, even though all the evidence proved that he did not violate that white woman, Tom was judged guilty because he was a black man. Racism is presented throughout the entire book especially when Scout got teased by her family about Atticus taking Tom’s case, and the townspeople's perception about Atticus, as well as during the trial of Tom Robinson.

Discrimination: a noun that is defined as, “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex”. There are many types of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that is taken place during the Great Depression . Scout is the main character and her father Atticus is defending a man named Tom Robinson, who is a Negro. There are three main topics that are discriminated in To Kill a Mockingbird. The three main topics that are discriminated are socioeconomics, gender, and most importantly, racism.

Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply based on their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. This has been a problem in our world forever. In to Kill a Mockingbird there are so many racist events and it reflects on the society as a whole till this day. The book setting was the 1930’s in a small county of Maycomb, where most people were racist and discriminatory. People think racism has died off, but it is still a huge problem. People choose to raise their children and teach them that racism is okay and that is how there is still racism today. There are so many statistics out there based on skin color that right there is even racist if everyone is equal why are there polls being taken separating people by the color of their skin?

Not much has changed in almost a century. Minorities are still being treated poorly. Harper Lee shows this many times throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. In her novel Lee portrays racial prejudice by showing the relationship between whites and blacks.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, and in the world today there is racial and social inequality going on all around us. I am sure that there will never be true racial and social equality, but I think that it will get dramatically better. Just like it has gotten better since the 1930’s, which is the time that To Kill a Mockingbird is set in.

Mayella Ewell claimed Tom Robinson beat and raped her. Both of Bob’s and Mayella’s testimonies have many loose holes and have multiple things that don't add up. For example,Tom not being able to use his right arm, but Mayella claimed he got on to her, beat and choked her. “And so, a quiet, humble, respectable negro, who has had the unmitigated TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is...now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!...” (Lee 273). This paragraph reveals the theme of racism in the city of Maycomb because Atticus has to re-explain why Tom is innocent. He has to keep telling them that the evidence from the Ewells don't add up, there was no positive medical kit, and Tom's story doesn't add up with the Ewells. It shows racism because it shows how far the people of Maycomb will go to make a black person suffer. It shows how much hate is filled with the whites of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is eventually shot 17 times by a police officer, and leaves behind his wife and three children. The outcome of Tom Robinson is horrible. But it shows how little the

Racism was a big issue in the town of maycomb. One big way racism represents itself is with Tom Robinson, a maycomb black man. He was convicted of raping a young female. She had proclaimed that Tom had went into her house, raped her, and beat her. Her dad states he heard screaming, ran to the house and tom was running away while his daughter was on the floor. Everyone believes her because well, he's black. No one cared about his side of the story, except for Atticus. He

In the 1962 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee, shows how racism can impact a society in a negative way through character construction because it is a reoccurring problem. In chapter 15; while Tom Robinson awaits his trial, he is transferred to the Maycomb jail. At ten o’clock pm, Atticus is on his way to the jailhouse; Scout, Jem, and Dill follow secretively. When Atticus got to the jail, he sat outside the doors and read; meanwhile the kids are hiding and spying on him. In the middle of Atticus is reading, four cars pull up, a group of men get out of the cars and tell Atticus to move away from the jailhouse doors. The men want Tom Robinson to get released; so that they can severely beat him and possibly murder him, simply because of the color of his skin.  The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are all constructed differently. Some characters are constructed to be extremely closed-mindedly prejudice, while others are constructed to be open-minded and accepting of differences. Although the book is set in an earlier generation, concepts of the book are extremely relevant today.

The article Racial Segregation is making America Sick, published by The Atlantic magazine, discussed racial segregation in the Unites States of America and the many effects it has on the quality of life of civilians. The topic of the article related to one of the major themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird: Racism. Lee used racism as a major theme throughout the novel and as the main reason for the false accusation and persecution of one of the characters, Tom Robinson. This case heavily affected the Finch family and Tom Robinson's widow Helen. The man defending Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, was affected by this case because it altered his reputation in the town and put his children's safety at risk. After agreeing to take on the case,

In this story it is noticeable that there is a lot of tension and racism that the white woman has with the young black boy. She is making certain remarks such as calling him a murder, a thief, and yet she barely even knows the young boy who is just innocently riding the subway along side of her. She says with in the passage that she is in fear of his life due to the fact that she believes that the boy of color can snap at any moment and commit a crime that is directed at her. , This passage reflects on the problems of today with racism, as of lately there has been plenty of racism, according the media.

Homeland of Racism ¨About six-in-ten Americans (61%) say more changes are needed to achieve racial equality”(Renee Stepler,1). This quote demonstrates how a majority of people in America feel about the racial inequality of our country. Not only do minorities believe that this is true. Many whites also believe that changes must be made. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there is an extraordinary amount of racial inequality throughout its duration.

Life is not easy for someone that is a minority in a town, and it is tougher if the people in the town are racist. Maycomb County, from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is a perfect example of this; their racism is reflected on the minorities (in this case, African-Americans). Racism is so normal in Maycomb County that everyone accepts it; and thanks to that, everyone is affected by it while they don’t even know how racist they are and the effects that it has on their lives. Racism is also the act of prejudging someone just because of their race or their looking.

Racism has been a huge issue for hundreds of years. Especially in the setting that the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place in. In the south during the 1930s, racism was a major problem. It was so common that children were raised to be racists, however Jem and Scout were raised differently. Atticus, their father, was a great man and did not follow the other community members in acting racist.

“The boy worked for me for 8 years and he hasn’t done any trouble.” This is what Link Deas shouted out in court in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This trial took place in the 1930s in Maycomb county Alabama. This trial was about a girl that claimed she was rapped Mayella Ewell by a black man named Tom Robinson. Atticus was his lawyer that fought hard to win this trial. He has two kids Jem and Scout and their friend Dill came and watched the trial with them up on the balcony with the black people. Although most citizens of Maycomb lived with racists beliefs, there were people in town, other than the Finches, who supported equality for all people, white or black.

The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society (John Lewis www.BrainyQuotes.com). In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are real life events that Harper Lee used. There are different ideas such as the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials that Harper Lee uses to help her write her book.