Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Racism is both an ideology and a system of domination. To be racist is not just a misuse of derogatory slurs and whatnot. Only certain communities have the power and the privilege to be racist. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird racism was one of the most recurring themes. Communities as well as specific characters were impacted by racism. Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, Bob Ewell and Dolphus Raymond were characters that suffered from Racism.

“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

People around the world are faced with being treated unfairly because of qualities society considers different. These can include something that the person is born in towith, or a decision they made later on in their life. Nelle Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows how prejudice views destroy the lives of many. In the town of Maycomb, blacks are mistreated for their color, while others are excluded fromfor not being “normal whites”. Although every character ofin the novel is not treated unequally, three main characters that are victims of prejudice are Tom Robinson for his race, Dolphus Raymond for intermarriage, and Boo Radley for mistakes he made in the past.

Racism was very “popular” as you should say back in the 1930’s . Whites had all the power while blacks and other minorities were suppose to fear them. In Maycomb , Alabama racism was around and had effects on citizens. Segregating whites from blacks is a horrid thing. It’s inhuman to say you're better than someone else because of their skin color. We as humans are equal some may be more wealthy than others but when it all comes down to it we will all go in the same box in the same ground. Racism was and still is a horrible thing and it affected a lot people.

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.

Racism was a very large part of society in the south during the 1930’s. Many colored people were thought of as less than their peers. Whites were considered better than African Americans were, and almost every white person accepted the unjust judgment. Racial discrimination hit hard in the south. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird were impacted by racial discrimination, including Calpurnia, Scout, and Tom Robinson and his family.

Scout witnessed and in a way, was a part of the shaming of Walter Cunningham. Walter Cunningham is a classmate of Scout. In the book to Kill a Mockingbird in chapter 2 Miss Caroline is Scout's teacher she is seeing what kids brought for lunch, she stopped at Walter because he didn't have any lunch. Miss Caroline then asked where his lunch is and he just said he didn’t have any, Miss Caroline then tried to give him quarters so he could go out and get food. Jean Louise said “Miss Caroline, he's a Cunningham.” Miss Caroline didn't get it at first why everyone was shaming him. Miss Caroline then realized he would never be able to repay her the quarters. Walter doesn't show up to school except on the first day because he always gets shamed for not having money like everyone else does in school and also for not having shoes. The book to Kill a Mockingbird is during the 1930’s the same time the Great Depression is going on. During the Great Depression many people lived in poverty and needed food, clothing and shelter. There weren't enough jobs for everyone to make enough money for their family’s so kids started to find jobs to help out, In the article A Case of Unemployment it states that “one in four Americans who wanted to work was unable to find a job.” The ones that were trying to find jobs couldn’t and then couldn’t support their family’s anymore. With Walter when he did go to school on the first day he got shamed for not

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, many minor themes are present such as gender and age. However, the largest and therefore major theme of the book is racism. All of the events and themes in the book had only one purpose, to support the theme of racism.

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.

Before the trial, Maycomb’s racist way of living brings down the innocent people in the town. Maycomb’s disease, also known as racism, influences the decisions and actions of the people. However, some people in the town do not have the disease, allowing them to see through the racism and help others. For instance, Atticus says to scout when they were talking about the trial, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 76). What Atticus means, when he says this, is that everyone in their society is equal and even if someone is different, they should still be treated with the same amount of respect. Atticus knows he will not win the trial, but he knows what is right, and he wants to bring justice to the system. While going to the courthouse, Jem, Scout, and Dill go on a wagon and eventually rode by Miss Maudie’s house. Miss Maudie comes outside and Jem asks her, “You goin’ to court this morning?” Miss Maudie replied, “I am not. ‘t’s morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, it’s like a Roman carnival” (Lee 159). Miss Maudie compares the people at the trial to a Roman carnival, meaning that the trial was unjust and based off of racism. Miss Maudie knew Tom was going to lose because the town is so racist, and the people are so caught up in the town's way of life, they don’t fully understand what is right and wrong. Racism, a large factor of justice in the town, lead to the false

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,

“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

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, discusses many problems in the south around the 1930s. Atticus and his children live in Maycomb Alabama, struggling to get by financially.In the town of Maycomb Alabama, Harper Lee explains and tells the stories connected to harsh racism, segregation, and injustice. The main story in this book expresses an unfair tria for a african american man accused of rape by a white women. He gets taken advantage of my many people in this book because of his race, this is one of many examples that i will discuss in more detail. Racism has been occurring for many many decades, it seems to be way worse in the south and segregation has played a huge role in the act of racism. Most of the southern towns including Maycomb have strict laws and rules to abide by for segregation and racism witch mentally and physically affects the people of different race everywhere. The topic of racism is very important to me and i believe that there needs to be actions to help and come close to fixing it. The main racism point i will cover in this writing is segregation, Tom Robinson, Dolphis Raymond, Calpurnia, Atticus and his kids.

What is racism? According to dictionary.com, racism is hatred or intolerance of another race or other races. In other words, racism is the discrimination against a different race because one thinks that their race is superior. Harper Lee provides readers with a glimpse of racism in her book To Kill A Mockingbird. Set in the 1930’s, Harper’s book displays a time where segregation became prevalent in America. Maycomb itself did not seem have segregation laws, but the people still acted racist towards Negroes. Racism in Maycomb can be seen in court, safe communities, and people’s attitudes toward those who interact with Negroes.

In the 1930s, it was customary for small towns in the heart of the American South to face the explicit onslaught of racism, and Maycomb is no exception. Racism in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee affects the events in the novel by the developing prejudice that controls the actions and speech of the population of Maycomb County. The true attitudes of Maycomb are revealed through events such as the trial, the beliefs of their citizens, and the Ewell’s accusation towards Tom Robinson.