Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

“Nigger”, “Colored-folks”, “Dinge”, racial slurs used in the South in the 1900s-1960s. The disgusting souls who discriminated, judged, hated, and segregated blacks. “White men rule”. Women, their voices, barely able to say as much as a sentence. The blacks, their voices, unable to say as much as even a word, and the children, innocent and curious, saw nothing and said nothing. Harper Lee represented the horrendous acts and judgments of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird. Maycomb, Alabama, 1930s, a small town with a big story. Tom Robinson, discriminated and unequal, was seen as “just another nigger” in Maycomb. “Nigger”, “Chocolate”, “Colored”, racial slurs that began long ago, and are still used to this day. The White

In conclusion, To Kill a Mockingbird has many examples of racism in the southern United States during the early 1900’s, such as Tom Robinson’s case, school, and church. Tom Robinson’s case was greatly influenced by racial bias. Schools in the south contributed to teaching the next generation anti-black ideology. Churches in the south also contributed to the hypocrisy despite the teachings of the bible. The founding fathers built this nation upon the fact that all men are equal. It is sad how far the United States fell away from this essential

Clearly, then, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird there has been many ubiquitous effects of racism on the citizens of Macomb. The lives of many characters in this novel have been disrupted and deeply affected in many ways because of racism. Throughout this novel, Harper Lee shows that one's race and skin color can change other's opinions about a character, without knowing anything about the character. In the end, no matter the color of your skin or what race you are, we are all equal, and we should all be treated

According to a report from dosomething.org, in 2009, "2/3 of the criminals receiving life sentences were non-whites." This shows that racism is still going on today and in Harper Lee's book, To Kill A Mockingbird. Her book takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the depression. The story is told by Jean Louise Finch, who goes by Scout. She lives with her brother named Jeremy Finch, or Jem, and their father named Atticus. He is an attorney and not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, even if he gets looked down upon. Atticus takes the case of Tom Robinson, who is a black person. He is accused of having raped a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Although the evidence makes the reader believe that Robinson is innocent, the jury finds

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot of racial or social issues, especially against the African-Americans, such as racial inequality and poor treatment of the poor or homeless; both of these are still at least partially seen today. Harper Lee uses the unfair trial of Tom Robinson and his cruel death to show racial inequality, especially towards the African-Americans. Towards the end of the trial, Lee describes how the jury acts when they come back in as: “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson…” (Lee 282). Then, Judge Taylor announces the verdict: “Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…” (Lee 282). Later on, Atticus comes home after finding out about Tom Robinson’s death: “Tom’s dead…. They got him just as he went over the fence…. Seventeen bullet holes in him” (Lee 315). Based on this evidence, it is clear that racial inequality was evident in the 1930’s because with prior knowledge from the novel, we know that Tom didn’t stand much of a chance against the jury because of his being African-American. Also, if a white man had done what Tom did, he probably would have been given a fairer trial than Tom was. Even though, the police obviously wanted him dead as he tried to escape prison, there was no reason to shoot him seventeen times. Racial inequality can still been seen in the country, and around the world, but doesn’t seem to be as bad as it had been; some statistics show it improved soon after, but some facts show it took longer. One statistic showing that racial inequality has gotten better states, “In 1980, over 50% of the Blacks aged 25 or more had completed high school, and, by 2012, 85%” (Coleman 183).One fact stating that racial inequality took a while before improving states, “Even after the slaves were freed, the African Americans continued to face legal discrimination and segregation until the victories of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s” (“Preface to ‘What…’” 1). This evidence shows that racial inequality didn’t really improve at first. After the civil rights movement, things improved for the African Americans. From the statistic, the reader knows that between 1980 and 2012, a little over 1% more of the

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee depicts racism in the 1930’s and shows the characters had to overcome challenges because of it. The 1930’s was a difficult time to live in because of racism against African Americans and the depression, where thousands of people lost their jobs. The idea “an extraordinary challenge can sometimes make an ordinary person into a hero” shows that anyone in To Kill a Mockingbird could have been a hero, even in a time of hardships. Scout Finch, Arthur “Boo” Radley, and Atticus Finch overcame challenges in the story in order to become great heroes.

Though Calpurnia and the people involved in Calpurnia’s life are greatly impacted, Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, deals with more confusion and frustration brought on by racial discrimination. During a day at school, Scout encountered Cecil Jacobs and his ignorant mind. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more… I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers”(Lee 99). Scout did not realize what this meant, but she was hurt by it any way. Scout is affected by a copious amount of racism, she just has no clue what is zipping around her. When she confronted Atticus about him defending Negroes, he said of course he does, and to not use

Although many people will deny it, racism is still very much existent, even since the 1930’s that Lee writes about. Insults like “n- lovin’ bastard” (Lee 217) are hurled at Atticus for defending a black man. Racism is so prevalent in the community that even children are heard making racist comments: “He’s nothing but a n- lover” (Lee 83). Furthermore, the jury’s decision to find Tom Robinson guilty, even though all evidence proved the opposite, shows that Maycomb’s citizens are willing to prosecute an innocent man solely because of his skin color. Interestingly enough, Lee also writes a scene where Jem and Scout experience racism from a black person. Upon seeing white people in the First Purchase Church, Lula says to Calpurnia, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillum here” (Lee 119). Racism still occurs currently. Many people are treated unjustly because of the color of their skins and racial slurring is the subject of many common jokes. Comparing, the racial prejudice in Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird to today’s society shows that even over such a long period of time, racism is present even now and will continue to be present for a long time to

To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, that offers a view of life through a young girl’s eyes. The novel is focused on two main themes which are racism and discrimination.

During the 1930s in “To Kill a MOckingbird” by Harper Leek, racism was known and present. The first example is when a Maycomb citizen talks about Atticus defending Tom's life, “..yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. Thats what I don't like about it”(163). White people in Maycomb look down on African Americans and they were disgusted that Atticus want to help a black man. The second example is when Atticus explains about unequal treatment of blacks to scout, “...when it's a white man's word against a black man's word, the white always wins. they’re ugly, but these are the facts of life”(252). No matter how right a black man is, the whites will prevail because to whites they see themselves as civilized people and not inferior beings. The final

For hundreds of years, society has seem to always target African-Americans for things like slavery, and prejudice. People have turned what they thought were beasts from another world into their slaves, making them suffer from constant torture, working conditions, and more. Prejudice gained prominence in this era and the idea of racism was born. Most westerners seem to treat everyone that doesn’t fit their skin color and attributes as a worthy sufferer of hate. Racism would later flow through systems and societies of other countries, plaguing the population of ideas that make no sense and judge a population based on something one cannot control. One of the many playing fields of racism was the United States in the 1900’s, even though

“To Kill A Mockingbird” is marvelous and unforgettable novel. Not only show how dramatic, sad in and old town – Maycomb be like, but through her unique writings, some big conflicts about politics and critical is going on through this tired old Southern town. Not just in general like education, friendship, neighbors but also pacific in individuals like family and the people’s characteristics themselves. In one book yet can covered with such many problems, Harper Lee must have been experienced a lot and deeply understanding that time. That is why the book lives, becoming literature and get the love from the audiences a lot. One of the problem and mostly run along with the story and interest me is racism between white people and black people

Racism in the United States of America, especially the South, in the 1930s was exceptionally different from the racism that America is experiencing today. In the compelling novel “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, hating or disliking a person that has a different skin color was an extremely common thing, and was accepted as normal; especially in the southern states. The majority of white children were brought up to think that they were more superior than black children in their households, and on the streets. Many families still didn’t want to associate themselves with black families, even though the story takes place post-Civil War. The Civil War, and many ‘famous’ Confederate soldiers are mentioned throughout the book, and many

In today’s society, injustice through racism has become a controversial topic. Many groups of people, specifically minorities, feel they are treated unfairly because of their race. Many people around the world agree, but others think it is just a made-up issue. There have been many incidents where certain individuals from these groups have been innocent yet oppressed in some way; others have been harmful and treated the same way. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, does an excellent job highlighting the racism and unfair treatment of African Americans throughout the book. She demonstrates that even the most innocent were punished, even if they committed no crime. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is entitled so because it has

What would you do if all of a sudden after years of living without it, you suddenly had racism directed toward you. Well this is what Jem and scout faced first hand and for the first time. They lived their lives without having racism directed toward them, and then all of a sudden they were put in a position that they had never experienced before. When Calpurnia takes the two kids to her church which was all people of color, so when a lady saw that white children came she got upset and confronted Calpurnia, Jem, and Scout. The to kids did not know what to do in this situation that was foreign to them. In summary, Scout and Jem got a small fragment of what colored people felt when they were being discriminated because of their race.