Examples Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, innocent black people are seven times more likely to be convicted of murder, 3.5 more times likely to be convicted of sexual assault, and twelve times more like to be convicted of drug crimes than innocent white people. Racial profiling has been a problem in America since the beginning of time. In the 1930s, laws like Jim Crow laws were predominant in America and made justice for minority groups like Mexicans and African Americans not very common. Harper Lee, a distinguished author, shows this idea in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird; by using irony and conflict, Lee shows that racial bias prevents justice.

Lee’s use of conflicts illustrates the concept that racism affects justice in a court of law. Mayella Ewell accused, Tom Robinson, a twenty-five year old black male of

The citizens of Maycomb describe Mayella’s family as “the disgrace of Maycomb” and “absolute trash”. During the trial Tom Robinson’s lawyer, Atticus Finch, gives great evidence that Tom did not commit this crime: “Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left. Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses—his right hand.” Atticus’s lines from his closing argument established that Tom Robinson could not have committed this crime because his left hand is crippled and since he cannot operate his left hand, he could not have been the one to violently beat Mayella Ewell. With all this compelling evidence and strong testimonies, the jury still decided that Tom Robinson was guilty of raping Mayella. Atticus Finch explained the reason that Tom was convicted even though he was innocent: “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.” The Ewells are considered white trash to the residents of