To Kill A Mockingbird Racism Analysis

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in July 11, 1960, shows the discrimination throughout the small town of Maycomb. Scout, the daughter of a white lawyer named Atticus, tells what she saw while she was growing up. Harper Lee uses foreshadowing throughout the entire story. When Atticus defends Tom Robinson in an alleged rape case. The people of Maycomb automatically start calling him, Scout, and Jem “nigger-lovers” for defending a black man.

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.

Although some people think that the problems of civil rights is gone, it is more present than ever. Racial discrimination is occurring in many ways and prejudice is a huge contributing factor which many people don’t realize. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a family in the South during the 1930’s, experience prejudice at the extreme. Young Scout, who is the narrator, lives in Maycomb, Alabama where there is a lot of racism. Because of this, many problems erupt when people try to change the towns ways. Scout grows throughout the book as she experiences many events that test her strength. In the novel, Lee uses the characterization of Scout to demonstrate that innocent children who witness cruelty, often question

To begin, "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box" (Lee 224). Tom Robisnon becomes a victim of racism when he is wrongly convicted. Tom is wrongly convicted of raping Mayella Ewell because of the color of his skin. Jury members only convict Tom because he is black, not because of the evidence presented in the trial. Secondly, "If I hear one more peep outa my girl Helen about not bein able to walk this road I'll have you in jail before sundown" (Lee 253). This is important because Mr. Ewell harasses her on her way to work for Mr. Deas, he does not even let her walk in front of his house, he even threatens her to not go to work. This shows that Helen has had a hard time finding work because she is associated with Tom. If Tom had not been wrongly accused of raping Mayella, then Helen would not face the harsh discrimination from the Maycomb community. All in all, Helen and Tom Robinson have a really hard time because of the effects of racism on them.

In the midst of the most progressive era in the history of the United States, people seem to be choosing to compare their current situation with the one in the 1930’s, where most African Americans were dehumanized. Women and Blacks have had a history of patronization which is displayed throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Even though there are some disagreements in certain subject matter between the races today, relations and ideals of injustice have evolved.

Racism in modern America has yet to be cast out of existence because most people has turned a blind eye to it. Moving through time, from when Jim Crow laws were first introduced, until today. The nation has greatly moved forward but it has taken steps backwards at times. Overcoming racism is proving to be one of the most difficult tasks for this country. Although, some would say that

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 To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee addresses racial discrimination and injustice through the events that occur in the town, its characters, and symbolism. Racial discrimination is seen during Tom’s case and afterwards. For instance, after Tom was sent to prison, his death was pretty much predicted, so Scout said, “To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw,” (Lee 322). In other words, the town treated Tom’s death as something they could have bet big bucks on when tried. It was a well-known fact by the town that Tom stood absolutely no chance to becoming a free man. If it were really no surprise to a young girl that a colored man who was pronounced guilty in a court against a white woman

Over the course of history, humanity has seen tremendous progress. Humans have moved from developing stone tools to hunt animals, to panicking about their social media. These are the developments historians and scientists usually discuss when asked about the progression of the human race. However, humanity has made tremendous progress in an area as important as technology— treating other human beings with respect. Although it is not gone, racism has been decreasing significantly over time. This is largely due to the influx of globalism and education which has spread across the world, making people more tolerant and aware of others. America during the 1930’s was sadly not as tolerant and progressive as we are today— especially in the south.

In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, that was written in 1960, the racial issues are a big part of the story. In the Tom Robinson case, the racial issue is what makes Atticus think he will lose the case. Tom is a black man accused of raping a white woman. In this time, a white man’s word was more trusted than a black man’s. The jury for the case was made of all white men so they would be against Tom. Also, it was a white woman which made the case worse. Blacks were looked down upon and did not have a say in the government. Atticus tries his best to defend Tom because he knows he can’t do anything due to the racial issues.

According to the great Jermaine Lamar Cole, hip-hop recording artist and record producer, he states, “What’s the price for a black man life? I check the toe tag, not one zero in sight I turn the Tv on, not one hero in sight unless he dribble or he fiddle with mics”. Racism is expressed in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and in Tate Taylor’s movie version of The Help. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. It talks about racism during this time but especially against a black man Tom Robinson, a man being falsely accused of rape because of the color of his skin, who has to fight for his life in court. The Help takes place in Jackson Mississippi, also during the nineteen hundreds. It, too, mainly talks about racism in society. One victim of this racism is Minny Jackson, an African

Rosa Parks, civil rights activist said “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome”. Racism is a real issue and it's not going away. We may not be able to change it now but it is our jobs as a society to prepare our future generations to face this issue. Racism is the brutal and unkind treatment of blacks like Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird he was unfairly convicted of a crime because he was a black man accused of raping a white woman.

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

Walking out in public and being discriminated by race or color is something that should not happen. A lot of different racial groups like to make fun of other groups for no reason. However, once people start to fight for their rights or their life that is when it has gone too far. Tom Robinson, from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, has to go through this every single day of his life. In Tom Robinson’s case, he was even charged with a crime he did not commit. An important role having to do with racism is Martin Luther King Jr., he was also subjected because he was black. He had to fight all of his life to stand up for what he believed in. Although, there were a lot of people who hated him he did many things that stopped people mistreating blacks.

“Racism the belief to distinguish a race with beliefs that they are superior to another”. As racism remains a major setback in America, it is in no Comparison to how it was like back in the days. From the pain it caused and the poor innocent people being tarnished on just cause of the color on their skin, this was a horrific phase to those who lived upon it. We have accomplished enormously but then again we still have much to improve. With the most discreet subtle form, modern racism is slowly catching up to us.