Racial Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

As an eighth grader in the United States of America, I have grown up with an African American president for more than half of my life, and, therefore, the most diverse administration in U.S history. As an eighth grader in New York City, I have grown up in an environment where almost 70% is composed of people of color, making this city amongst the ten most racially diverse in the world. Correspondingly, the world in my eyes is far more different than that represented in To Kill a Mockingbird. In over 80 years of American history (1930s-2017) we have faced immense racial and social progress; The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed public segregation and employment discrimination and four laws have since been added to prevent discrimination. In the text, this improvement was not present. During the trial, white people sat on the first floor and black people sat on the balcony; Jem and Scout are brought to an all-colored church

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, prejudice is nothing new to the town of Maycomb. In fact it is a daily occurrence and the townspeople don’t think twice about it. Whether they fall victim to it or are the ones hashing it out, prejudice is an adamant part of their society. To start with, many of the folks in Maycomb believe that boys and girls should act a certain way leading to gender discrimination. Secondly, the town is prejudice against an individual, Boo Radley. Last but certainly not least is the racial discrimination Jem and Scout must face when attending Calpurnia’s church one Sunday.

Imagine…you are at the school cafeteria eating lunch with your friends and a green person comes toward the table and asks if the green person can sit with you. All of a sudden, everyone in the cafeteria turns to look at your table, trying to find out if you and your friends will let the green person, who is rumored to be an alien who eats green crayons, eat lunch at your table. You were about to let the green person join you when your friends start talking about how there is no way they are letting any green people eat with them because of their “reputation.” They strongly reject the green person, who leaves silently and embarrassed, while everyone in the cafeteria resumes eating. Because of the system of high school, you agree with your friends. However, deep down you know your decision is wrong. This event depicts prejudice through discrimination. The green person was discriminated because of their skin color, silly rumors, and no reasonable purpose. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, depicts that the undercurrent of prejudice that reigns through Maycomb influences the crucial events in the story. Lee illustrates that prejudice results in discrimination and how it is inescapable.

Racialism: the most conspicuous form of discrimination in our novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Our book is set in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1950s; one of our central character, Atticus Finch, defends an African-American named Tom Robinson against a white woman for assault and rape. Atticus makes a controversial decision of taking a stand for a black man; which causes confusion and drama. Even his daughter, Scout Finch, questioned why he is justifying for an African-American; he replied by stating, “ Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (101). Judging from Atticus’ background personality and character, it makes sense for him to vindicate Tom Robinson; even if Atticus

The dictionary's definition of prejudice is, “preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience; biased.” The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of a small town, Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. We follow the story of two kids, Jem and Scout Finch. Jem and Scout and the kids of Atticus, who is a lawyer in town and is on Tom Robinson's case, he is a black man that is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Their eyes are opened when they see the true side of everyone in their town as they talk and listen to everything in Maycomb has to say about someone, or something. Prejudice is shown through the actions of citizens in Maycomb through class, gender, racial prejudice.

In the narrative, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, two children living in a small town witness the harsh, racial judgements towards their father and his decision to stand for an African American man on trial. One of the children, Jean Louise, is confused and shocked at her neighbor’s reaction to her father’s decision and she struggles to keep her temper down. Meanwhile, Jean’s brother, Jem, isn’t as ignorant and understands to racist society he is living in and accepts it.

According to National Public Radio, former president Barack Obama, says about racism, “It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination. Societies don’t overnight completely erase everything that happened 200-300 years prior.” From that, it is clear that Obama believes discrimination still happens to this day. Also, he thinks that it will take time for the society to overcome the battle of it. Although Obama said that on June 22nd, 2015, To Kill A Mockingbird was published in 1960. To Kill A Mockingbird is a realistic fiction novel that was written by Harper Lee. The story is told by Scout Finch, the daughter of Atticus Finch and the sister of Jem Finch. It is set back in the 1930s, where discrimination was a large issue as well. Atticus, a well-known lawyer living in Maycomb, Alabama, is given the job of defending Tom Robinson. He is an African American man that was accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The Ewell’s are extremely poor and are considered one of the lowest rankings in the town by class, due to their lack of education and money. Tom falls underneath them, merely because of the color of his skin. Because of the current time period of racism, Atticus is faced with a huge task. Despite the difficulty of defending Tom, Atticus puts forth his best effort by doing everything in his power to help him. Harper Lee expresses in To Kill A Mockingbird how discrimination can negatively affect a community through

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment towards others because of their membership or background which were very prevalent acts in the early and middle 1900's. In the novel To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, depicts not only revealing prejudice, but in examining the nature of prejudice, how it works, and its consequences. Harper Lee accomplishes this by dramatising the main character (the protagonist), Scouts transition from a vulnerable child to a mature adult by seeing the horrors of prejudice through eyes innocent to experience which ultimately help her to become a better person through numerous learning opportunities presented in the novel. Initially, she has never seen or experienced prejudice, she assumes that all people are good by nature and tolerant of others. It is not until the protagonist sees and learns things from a more realistic perspective that she is able to confront evil such as prejudice, and incorporate it into their understanding of Maycomb. Scout loses her innocence to experience when she recognizes prejudice through the people living in Maycomb which she learns is wrong. Throughout the novel, Scout is exposed to different forms of prejudice by society such as racism, classism, and sexism.

    Racism is defined as believing that one's own race is superior over others. There several examples of racism throughout the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. A blatant example of racism, was illustrated towards the Finch family being subjected to Maycomb County citizens threats and other forms of intimidation by Atticus Finch decision to represent Tom Robinson (as his attorney) during the trial. Secondly, in Alabama segregation existed between African Americans and Whites. Therefore, Tom Robinson’s jury contained 12 white men, prohibiting women and minorities. Ultimately, the jury racial biases ignored the evidence presented by Atticus Finch which corroborates that Mayella Ewell tried to entice Tom Robinson (an African American) therefore, raised suspicion that Mayella was likely attacked and sexually assaulted by Bob Ewell (her father). The last example of racism is taken from “Night” by Elie

Atticus Finch was not racist for multiple reasons. The multiple reasons include defending Tom Robinson, being respectful to colored people and hiring Calpernia. During the Great Depression, there was no money available and Atticus still hired Calpernia. There was much racism and discrimination during the times of the 1930’s and before. White men had fecually all the power during To Kill a Mockingbird. Many people did not approve of a white man defending an African American man who was accused of raping a white women during the times of the Great Depression. Atticus protected Calpurnia and his family by having her in the back

The first consequence of there being racism in a society is Scout, Jem and Atticus get made fun of and are hated by people in the community. The people of Maycomb begin to say hurtful and racist things to not only Atticus but to his children as well. For example, in chapter 11 on page 135 as Scout is walking past Mrs. Dubose’s house, she says to Scout “Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for”. This shows that the people who do not approve of Atticus defending a black man are taking their anger out and showing racism on the whole family. They see the Finch family as more of a lowlife family now because they are on Tom Robinson's side. The people who think Atticus is wrong in defending Tom, don’t really know the truth which is Tom is innocent and never raped Mayella. Throughout the novel they have

In the storybook To Kill A Mockingbird, discrimination is an utmost consequence of prejudice. Throughout the story, Scout, the main character was discriminated because of her gender, how she acted, and how she was the daughter of a “nigger lover.”

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on a young girl named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch. Through the perspective of Scout, readers are exposed to the discrimination she and the others around her went through. The novel was based on the 1930’s, where discrimination and prejudices were regular day to day acts. Discrimination is prevalent in the novel, the most obvious being the excessive amount of racism. Racism is the easiest to see but there are more forms of discrimination, as it also targets lower class citizens and women. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee addresses these accounts of discrimination throughout the entire piece as it relates to race, gender and class, making it one of the most prominent themes in the novel.

According to Merriam - Webster dictionary, prejudice is defined as “a preconceived judgement or opinion”. Now, since it’s known worldwide that ever since African Americans stepped foot in the U.S. , segregation was placed upon them simply because of the color of their skin and is a prime example of prejudice. The unfair and violent treatment of blacks never quite stopped up until recent times. This type of unjustified segregation and discrimination can be seen all throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee. The prejudice inclined portrayal of the black community is reflected by the way Aunt Alexandra feels towards Calpurnia, the Tom Robinson case, and Jem and Scouts experience in the black church.

Jimmy Carter once said, “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.” The book takes place in fictional Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Scout, the narrator, and her older brother Jem, have a different childhood than most children at that time period, because their father, Atticus, is not making them conform to society’s standards and is encouraging them to be who they want to be. The family has an African-American cook, Calpurnia, who both children adore, and Atticus teaches them to respect everyone and not discriminate based on race. Throughout the novel, there are several instances of discrimination against both white and black people, like when Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church one time, and how Atticus defended Tom Robinson in court for a crime he did not commit knowing he was going to lose because Tom is black. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses both dialogue and setting to convey the fact that discrimination is an issue that affects everyone.