Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And A Raisin In The Sun

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.” US Representative, John Lewis said this in his return to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke on 54 years ago, during the March on Washington. Racism has been around since the beginning of time, but it is not human nature. Racism is something that is taught, and given the amount of time that has passed since To Kill A Mockingbird and the March on Washington, one would think that racism wouldn’t be a serious issue any more. Although race relations have improved along with other social issues from the time of To Kill Mockingbird, racism and discrimination are major problems in today’s society.

Because of this prejudice, Tom’s ideas, actions, and life is affected. In Chapter 23, when Atticus and Jem talks about how the jury chose Tom’s sentence, Atticus explains why Tom had gotten such a harsh sentence and relates it to how Ewell used Robinson and knew how it would work in his favor. In addition, Lee writes, “ ...they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life” (295). In this quote, it is seen that Ewell knew the jury would see Robinson as inferior and subordinate compared to him because of this color, which means the jury send would send Tom Robinson to jail. This is unfair because Robinson has a better character and personality than Ewell, but society will prefer Ewell over Robinson because of his skin color. This prejudice against African Americans like Tom Robinson affects them in many ways and in Tom Robinson’s case, sends him to jail and death. The prejudice against Robinson makes him desperate to a point where he sees no future to himself and tries to escapes, but dies. This quote also shows how the white men in this story and this time period can be as fair as they can, but they can’t truly fair. This is because racism and its ideals are rooted into them from a young age and it can be hard, or even impossible to get rid of these ways. Next, in Chapter 6, Atticus explains in the same conversation to Jem that how white men cheat others out of things and that they are trash. To support this, Atticus says, “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is

One of the inequalities in Lee’s story is racism. Tom Robinson was a black man who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white, nineteen year old girl. During his trial, his lawyer, Atticus Finch did his best showing the jury that he was an innocent man. The jury delibabrated for hours before they reached a verdict: “Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty” (Lee 282). Tom was an innocent man but because of the color of his skin, he walked into that courtroom already found guilty. Today, people of color are targeted in many different ways, especially in the legal system:“One out of every 13 African Americans have lost their right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement versus one in every 56 non-black voters” (Quigley). Another example is, federal prosecutors are almost twice as likely to file charges carrying mandatory minimum sentences for African Americans than whites accused of the same crimes, according to a study published by the University of Michigan Law School. Our Declaration of Independence

First of all, there is always a right way to treat someone and the way you treat someone shouldn’t be depended on what color of skin they have. “It couldn’t be worse, Jack. The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells‘. The evidence boils down to you-did—I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’—are you acquainted with the Ewells?” (48). This shows that Tom Robinson has no chance at winning the case because of his color. Even though, the one place that should respect any color and treat everyone fair is the courtroom, but judges carry their feelings right into there. Since the Ewells are white they are going to get respected more and treated better and more trustworthy, so when they say Tom Robinson is guilty, they all believe them over Tom’s word. Tom wasn’t being cruel

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the jury in the Tom Robinson trial had to make a decision. Tom Robinson who was an innocent man, was convicted for a crime he did not do. Atticus proves his innocence with hard facts and it was up to the jury if they wanted to deem Tom Robinson guilty or not guilty. The jury thought about the case for a long time which does not happen often with cases about a black man in the 1930's, but in the end they did deem him guilty. Even though that they knew that he was an innocent man, they proclaimed that he was guilty, because they had to make a decision, and they decided to do what society thought was right. When Tom Robinson knew that there would be nothing that could save him he decided to run, not because he was guilty but because he knew that he would die either

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry has many similarities to the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech. Some similarities in both the speech and the book are that there are promises that are not fulfilled, they are both trying to achieve the American Dream, they both care about the future of their children, and they both have dealt with obstacles in their quest for freedom.

In both the case of Tom Robinson and the real life version of the Scottsboro boys, we see that justice is denied to African Americans because the jury consists of only white. The day of the Scottsboro trial, when the jury was discussing the final verdict, the sheriff had a talk with the doctor who examined the girls and the jury didn’t do much investigation. Klarman states, “It later came out that Sheriff Wann had warned Norris that he would be killed if he did not admit that the girls had been raped”(Klarman 160). This quote demonstrates that the trial wasn’t the best since it later came out that the doctor lied which meant that the jury didn’t do much to investigate. This shows that the jury didn’t want the boys to win the trial

“Guilty...Guilty...Guilty...Guilty…” Even if a defendant was innocent without a doubt a prejudice jury will find him/her guilty Every time based off there race, religion, and color. In Tom Robinson's case this is shown by him being accused of rapeing a white woman when the jury had no evidence to convict him of that

To start, I will predict the case verdict of Tom Robinson. There is reasoning why he is guilty, and reasoning why he may not guilty. The first evidence that, he is guilty is that no black man has won a trial against a white person in court during that point in time. During that point in time racism was extremely common. Whites looked down at blacks just because the color of their skin. From their perspective, they were the part of the hierarchy, while the black were considered apart of the lower class. The whites thought that by putting the blacks down it was there from of authority, and showing their power. From that you can see that the chances of Tom, a black man wining a case against a white woman were slim. In addition, is when Mayella testified her story. When she first got up the chair she started to cry, she said it was because of Atticus scaring her.

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.

When Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime and sent to a trial that he had no chance at winning, he had lost any bit of innocence that he would ever get. In a time where the black community faced constant prejudice and discrimination, it was near impossible for any African American to be let off as innocent for any crime. And the sad part to it is that a lot of the blacks sent to trials and jail weren't even guilty of any crime at all, they were innocent. Tom Robinson was sent to a trial for the rape and beatings of Mayella Ewell. No one believed Tom on his innocence and when Atticus, his lawyer at the case, hands down proved his innocence, he was still going to be convicted as guilty. If it had come down to where they had to sit in front of another jury and do the same thing over and prove his innocence again, he still would probably be convicted as a guilty man. In the end Tom would be sentenced as guilty on not fact, or logic but by wrong prejudice ideas. With the broken judicial system and sideways beliefs of the time Tom Robinson lost any little hope he could ever wish for, he was completely stripped of his innocence.

The most common prejudice people encounter is that of race. During Tom Robinson’s trial this type of prejudice is shown. Tom was a black man accused of raping a white woman, a crime that is punishable by the death penalty. Even though all of the evidence should prove him innocent, the jury still found him guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt. The justice system didn’t allow this man to have a fair trial because of racial prejudice. The character Jem was heartbroken by consequence of racism “His face was streaked with angry tears, ‘it ain’t right’ he muttered.” (212). The jurors had disregarded Tom’s credibility or that of the other witnesses. All they could focus on was his race because they could not see though the frost in that window.

Everyone has dreams, things they want to be or achieve no matter what their color or race is. But have you ever thought "what happens when dreams are deferred"? If you haven't questioned yourself this,you should read Langston Hughes poem "Harlem" and Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun". Many say that in bothworks these authors address the situations and struggles that African Americans have in America in order to accomplish their dreams and the sacrifices they have to give along the way.

The two fathers in Raisin’ in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller are very similar, yet different. Walter, the father in Raisin in the Sun, is a mid-thirties man living with his family in the Southside of Chicago. Willy is the father in Death of a Salesman. He is in his late sixties living with his family in New York. Even though they are different ages and live in different places, they both share similar characteristics.

When the word racism comes to mind many people think of a single person acting against another based on one’s race. However, there are larger forms of racism that exist at all levels of human society. Institutional racism refers to the practices of specific institutions that affect people based on their race. Institutional racism can be practiced knowingly or unknowingly. Redlining is a form of institutionalized racism that began with the National Housing Act in the 1930’s. Redlining is the practice by which banks refused to offer minority loans for houses in white neighborhoods. Minorities were forced to turn to egregious loans in minority neighborhoods regardless of their economic class. “Sharkey’s research shows that black families making $100,000 typically live in the kinds of neighborhoods inhabited by white families making $30,000.” That means that minority middle-class workers such as doctors, lawyers, and business owners were forced to live in lower