Stereotypes: Effects Of Racism And Prejudice In Our Community

The whole town of Maycomb is racist, which makes Atticus’s job harder trying to defend Tom Robinson against the word of a white man.Tom Robinson’s case is unjust since he is black and the majority of Maycomb revert to the stereotype that all blacks are immoral and criminals. “Quote” shows that it is a situation where little is possible to do when defending a black man because the town of Maycomb is deeply affected by racism they tend to only make decisions based on the race and so immediately think Tom Robinson is guilty, that he did indeed raped Mayella when there was so much evidence to prove otherwise. This is challenging for Atticus, since he has to persuade everyone to pretend there is no stereotype about blacks and that they are human

There are different levels of discrimination and often times, most people do not realize they are prejudiced. “While most people want to be fair, we can’t help but have preconceived notions”. This quote just shows how some people are raised to either dehumanize or respect a person more because of their race or background. Just like any other learned behavior, prejudice is integrated into the lives of many and plays a huge role in society. Stereotypes and personal experiences strongly contribute to the unintentional actions a person gives off towards a certain type of person or group.

Prejudice is a huge factor in how people treat others. “After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, rumors spread, fueled by race prejudice, of a plot among Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war effort” (history.com). When fear causes rumors to spread, prejudice is allowed to run free;however, not all people allow prejudice get in the way of their

Maycomb's unjust beliefs on race determined the outcome of Tom Robinson's trail. Atticus´s defence was more than enough to set Tom free, but Maycomb's ignorance and narrow-minded view on African Americans set an innocent man to jail. Atticus told Jem "If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man" (Lee 295). The jury members had been affected by the ignorance of society. They convicted Tom because when they grow up they learned racists beliefs and they do not know any other way. In Maycomb, racism is a normal part of everyday life. When kids at Scouts school call Atticus a n***** lover. Atticus explains to Scout what it means, "Scout," said Atticus, "n*****-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose. It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves.¨ (144). The racists views and attitudes determined the guilty verdict of Tom. In Atticus closing argument, he says "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man¨(272). Society has a set of rules which are not written but known, these rules tend to be ignorant and impartial. When it comes to race and the misguided beliefs about race, there is a profusion of ignorance. The expectations on race set by society affect the actions and events of life.

The repetition of imprisonment shows how African Americans are kept in a rigid set of rules, even more so than the poor class and those who are different, and are unable to escape due to their race. While waiting for the trial, Tom Robinson is kept in Maycomb’s jail after he is accused of rape by the Ewell family. Scout describes this building: “The jail was Maycomb’s only conversation piece: its detractors said it looked like a Victorian privy; its supporters said it gave the town a good solid respectable look, and no stranger would ever suspect that it was full of niggers” (201). The structure itself of the Maycomb jail shows how the town wishes that the African American population did not exist, and tries to pretend that they are not a part

It is seen that now how racism cloud the judgment in Maycomb people toward Tom’s death. Despise how good a citizen he is, it is all useless to prove Tom is innocent with all the crazy idea that acting horrible is black people instinct. Additionally, as Scout realization, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Page 245).

In the people of Maycomb they had opinions about Atticus by helping out Tom Robinson just because he is a different race it shouldn’t matter who was Atticus was helping but the people seemed like shocked seeing someone like Atticus helping out Tom Robinson who he deserves a lawyer no matter what his race is.” According to Miss Stephanie Crawford, however, Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him. Miss Stephanie said Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out his handkerchief and wiped his face and stood there and let Mr. Ewell call him names wild horses could not bring her to repeat. ”(pg.291). Like Mr. Ewell there might also be other people in Maycomb county that didn’t like Atticus by defending ,Tom Robinson in the court as Tom’s lawyer.

In this modern world, prejudice is still a universal problem we still have yet to overcome. Although it is true that our society is much less prejudiced than it was 40-50 years ago, we are still struggling to create racial harmony in a world that is so diverse in terms of racial group, sexual orientations, ethnicity, nationality, religions, and so on. I think the core of prejudice comes from stereotyping, which is the generalization of motives, characteristics, or behavior to an entire group of people. In the world where media propaganda is ubiquitous, often times most stereotypes are not formed on valid experiences, instead they are based on images publicized by the mass media, or even created within our heads after seeing and hearing examples from many different sources, like movies, or even hearsay. Stereotyping is more powerful than we think, because it allows those false pictures to control our thinking that leads us to assign uniform characteristics to any person in a group, without consideration of the actual difference between members of that particular group.

As a black man in Maycomb, Tom Robinson receives a lot of negativity from the white folks in town during his trial. In reality, Tom Robinson is a very kind person who did work for Mayella Ewell because “[he] was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help [Mayella] none, and neither did the chillun, and [he] knowed [Mayella] didn’t have no nickels to spare.” (256) Tom Robinson, holding quite a demanding job, also wanted to help out Mayella for free in such a crisis because he felt like she has no one else to help her. Like a mockingbird who sings for sheer goodness, Tom helped Mayella because he felt bad for her, only to be shot like a mockingbird, “seventeen bullet holes in him” (315). After his death, Mr. Underwood published an article,

Prejudice is a powerful influence that can affect the outlook or perspectives of individuals. But to what extent does prejudice have on influencing personal behavior and actions in modern society? Personal experiences and traumatic events, as well as parental and social influences, are often thought to be the main factors by which prejudice and direct opinions are created from. Often the things one hears during childhood can affect how one thinks and behaves in the future as an adult. During the early 1900’s many citizens in southern states were surrounded by negative outlooks towards black people, which was passed on to them.

”If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man”(Lee 295). Here Atticus confirms that the men in the jury were racist, and they did not have a good morals like Jem because if they did Robinson wouldn't have been charged. The result also shows there is division in the towns views because it reveals the two types of people in Maycomb those who are legitimately racist, and those who can tolerate negros, and deep down know that Robinson is innocent. The accusation of Tom Robinson also showed the town was divided because the black people constantly live in fear of white people. This divides the negro citizens, from the whites

He received backlash for defending Tom Robinson, as people criticized him and created public displays that mocked how he lived. Racism and prejudice murdered Tom Robinson and in fact, it was those two things that shot him seventeen times in the chest. Maycomb took Tom Robinson and used him as a chew toy; they chewed him up until there was nothing left of him. His innocence was erased and replaced by lies made up by a white man who spent every dime he earned on alcohol. The innocence of Tom Robinson was belittled and beaten by the cruelty of society until his heart could no longer beat.

Citizens in Maycomb thought of themselves as higher beings due to their skin color and found it offensive when people, like Atticus, stuck up for the colored people. Tom Robinson, being a black man, was basically doomed from the beginning of his trial due to the town being full of prejudice

A lot of times people make single stories about people based on their skin color and for Tom Robinson it was true. The Maycomb community singled out Tom and did not treat him with any respect because of his skin color. “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?”(Lee 264). When Tom went to testify and said he felt sorry for mayella the lawyer almost laughed at him because of how disrespectful he is. He thought that there was no way a black man could feel sorry for a white woman, almost like it was impossible for them. What they didn’t understand is that Tom felt sorry for her because she sees him hurting and no one else can figure it out. No matter what his skin color is he sees what is going on and feels sorry that Mayella has to live

Stereotypes is one of the most common causes of racism. Through radio, through television, through the internet, through music, through books, and many alike, the real potential for stereo types to arise are an inevitable possibility. Parents, willingly or not, expose and teach their children, subconsciously, by saying statements and/or watching programs that involve racism. When there is a constant source of negativity towards a certain race, then it will eventually effect the overall opinions of the populous. (The 4)