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How Does Atticus Use Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Rosa Parks, being one of the most prominent Civil Rights activists to have existed during the Civil Rights movement once said that, “”Racism is still with us, but it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” This statement is incredibly powerful and speaks to the kind of racism and injustice we continually observe throughout “To Kill A Mockingbird.” In the novel itself, Atticus specifically is tasked with the monumental goal of defending an African American male in the middle of Alabama in the mid 1930’s, who so happens to be charged with raping a woman who is white. The odds were indeed heavily stacked against him, but the fact that Atticus chose to go through with representing Tom, …show more content…

He specifically, as a man in Maycomb, is respected for both his occupation and personality, so when he chooses to represent Tom Robinson, who is black man charged with “supposedly” raping a white woman, outrage breaks out in the town itself, and as a result Atticus is repeatedly scrutinized and even threatened for representing Tom. From the case’s initial conception, Atticus knew what the final ruling was to be, but he chose to keep representing Tom despite knowing the case’s true outcome. Tom’s innocence is evident from the “get go” but due to the racial bias that was present in the courtroom itself, Tom was at a severe disadvantage when it came to truthfully revealing his innocence. Mayella chose to go along with her father’s (Bob Ewell) plan to accuse Tom, because Bob Ewell did indeed “rape” his daughter and because Tom had the closest “relationship” with Mayella, she chose to blame him for something her father …show more content…

However, racism doesn’t just end after the book. Today we are still dealing with issues that are revolved around this incredibly disgusting way of thinking and acting, with cases ranging from the murder of individuals like Trayvon Martin, to more recently teenagers like Michael Brown, we are still repetitively witnessing racism as a whole and something must indeed be done about it. In the words of Al Sharpton, “As I often say, we have come a long way from the days of slavery, but in 2014, discrimination and inequality still saturate our society in modern ways. Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable.” This quote speaks to the kind of racism and injustice that we today are still observing, and as stated previously, there is no denying that it is indeed still with us in our modern society in the year of 2016, even after the ending of slavery 151 years

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