People around the world have been suffering from an endless disease known as the injustice. A disease that eliminates values, injures dignity, leads specific people to revenge–mostly violence–and requires the community under which the injustice has affected to recover from it. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story takes setting during the Great Depression in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. The novel deals with racial injustice by setting a scene where Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman. However, despite significant evidence that proves Tom Robinson’s innocence, the jury convicts him because of his race. Additionally, in another prejudiced death that occured in Ferguson, Missouri …show more content…
For example, following the unjust and devastating murder of Michael Brown in the town of Ferguson, Missouri, “Protesters surged forward, throwing objects at officers in riot gear. The sound of gunfire could be heard… Mr Brown’s death prompted weeks of demonstrations… Confrontations between protesters and law enforcement officers continued even after Gov. Jay Nixon deployed the Missouri National Guard to help quell the unrest” (“What Happened in Ferguson”). After the grand jury decided not to indict the officer that unlawfully killed Michael Brown, it set off a wave of anger among those who realized the injustice that just occured leading to vast numbers of violent protests. By the community actually discerning the injustice, they knew it was immoral so they decided to recover from it by protesting and boycotting, especially in a violent matter, to demand changes. Moreover, after Brown’s death, Bruce Franks became a protester against racial discrimination and police brutality; “He did not know Brown, but Franks knew he had to be in the streets with others demanding to know what happened, and why” (Moore). Bruce Franks was part of the Ferguson community and not even knowing Brown personally, he recognized the injustice and decided to protest with others to know what actually happened. Franks, along with others, wanted to seek justice and prevent further injustices such as the murder of Michael Brown by recognizing the injustices and advocating their moral beliefs about them through violent protesting. Therefore, after discerning how prominent the prejudice towards African-Americans was in the town of Ferguson, especially in the justice system, the community decided to protest and demanded for a change to seek
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
in the past. For instance, there was public outcry for justice after the murder of Trayvon
Racial discrimination in our society has reached its tipping point such that rioting has become a last resort. After the deaths of two young African American males that occurred due to police brutality , the public has been in an uproar, fighting and hoping for change;however the means of fighting aren’t seen as appropriate. The majority of the population argues that the rioting that had occurred in Baltimore and Ferguson, where the shootings happened, were unjustified. The media depicted the rioting to be criminalized and unrelated to the cause. It was portrayed that African Americans took the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray as an excuse to loot and raid.On contrary to popular belief, the rioting in Baltimore and Ferguson were adequate actions that took place. It wasn’t until the rioting occurred that investigations of these cases followed. Because of the investigation it was found that the problems at hand were more than racial issues highlighted by police brutality, but racial abuse in the system of the cities.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
Did he enact this massacre solely due to mental health issues or was it because of something greater? Many argue that this was due to him growing up in a country with an extensive and dare I say ‘proud’ history of racism. Just as in all cases of mass shootings, the tragedy soon became politicized, with both conservatives and liberals shifting the blame to a number of different perpetrators. The article continues by referencing Bryan Stevenson, a black lawyer who has spent the bulk of his career saving prisoners from the death-penalty and challenging bias in the justice system, and stating his views on the current situation in the United States. “‘This latest violent act is an extreme and terrifying example, but not disconnected from the way black men and boys are treated by police, by schools, by the state. The landscape is littered with monuments that talk proudly about the Confederacy and leave no record about the lynchings of the era.’” Polgreen goes on to state that “America is living through a moment of racial paradox.” She supports this theory by using examples such as the Obamas, Shonda Rhimes, and Lee Daniels to present us with a glimpse of how far Black Americans have come in American
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
According to Apel (2014), on August 9,2014, Michael Brown,18, an unarmed black man of Ferguson, Missouri was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. Considering the evidence, a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson. This sparked a nationwide protest. People came from near and far to protest the judge’s decision. It was no peaceful protest, it might have appeared to start out as a nonviolent protest, but like many protests, it quickly turned violent. People wanted justice and the people felt as though the system once again had felled them. Barnett (2014), a reporter says that after the shooting groups such as the “New Black Panthers,” demanded a rebellion against the officer who shot Brown. For a while the head of police was not going to reveal the name of the officer who killed the Brown, but after a series of violent protest, the head of police released the officer’s name. If violence was not used during the protest it would not have received worldwide attention. Furthermore, the public would not have known the officer who killed Brown. Due to the amount of attention the Michael Brown’s case received and because of the amount of passion the protestors had and how they were willing to die to get their point across sparked attention. Requiring many people who were in the political spotlight to
When engaging in the controversy surrounded around Sandra Bland’s arrest and followed death, one quote comes to mind, “ Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation”(Oscar Wilde). While numerous speculations have been created; for the most part America has divided into two perspectives. Those who believe this case is a suicide with a dash of coincidental, and those who believe this case is a homicide with racial intentions. Many ruling Bland’s case a homicide with racial intentions are treating the case like an axiom; however, this is a unique case that requires more than a glance over social media. Others look at this case blind due to racial beliefs and stereotypes. After conducting a personal investigation, I found error on both sides of the case.
Brown, was unarmed, and shot on August 9, 2014 by a white officer. The shooting and result in his death caused a “firestorm of protests and re-animating national conversations on issues of race, policing, and violence in the U.S”, according to Vice News (2014). Brown was shot and his body was left on the ground dead for nearly four hours before he was taken. His funeral was conducted two weeks after, according to USA Today, the Reverend sadly mentioned that Brown was laying on the ground dead for four hours like his “life… didn’t matter” (2015). I do admit the death threats that the Ferguson Police Department received from families, was dangerous. However, one can only put up with so much discrimination and inequality before they snap and say or do terrible
However, thousands of people (supports of Brown) outside of the Ferguson court room and many around the world waited and watched the Grand Jury decide that officer Wilson would not be charged for the murder of Brown. Rioting ensued throughout the city and protests began to rise throughout the entire country. This case is what made the statement “Black Lives Matter” much more popular around the U.S. In another case in Cleveland, Ohio, a 12-year-old African American boy, who was playing with a toy gun, was shot and killed by a police officer. Shortly after, a statement was released that the officer Timothy Lehmann was deemed unfit to be a cop and should be charged with the murder against Rice. People use the statement “Black Lives Matter” because they believe African Americans are clearly being mistreated (many consider/call this racism) from a police brutality perspective and in our court system. Julia Craven, writer for The Huffington Post and a supporter of the “Black Lives Matter” statement says, “When I say "Black lives matter," it is because this nation has a tendency to say otherwise (“All Lives Matter”). Racial discrimination does affect all minorities but police brutality, at such excessive rates, does not. Officers are provided the unrestricted
In Ferguson, Missouri there had been many protest to due to feelings of unrest by the public after fatal shooting of teenager Michael brown by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, on August 9, 2014. Within the protest there were several waves of them. The First wave (August 9, 2014-August 25, 2014) occurred when Michael Brown was shot. The initial protest were very peaceful. During the Second Wave (November 24, 2014- December 2, 2014 after Darren Wilson was not indicted the protest became more and more violent. The Third and Final Wave (August 9, 2015- August 11, 2015) came out of the anniversary of Michael Brown’s death.
You would think that the court would be the one place where Justice never fails, but not always. Injustice takes place in the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the quiet town of Maycomb a black man is accused of raping a white women. The verdict proved guilty, despite questionable evidence. Atticus Finch is designated to defend, While throughout the trail his kids Jem and Scout grow in there understanding of Justice and what it means to them. Lee developed Justice through the trail in To Kill A Mockingbird by saying Justice isn’t always fair/right.
A big issue that is consistently seen on the news is the killings of black men and women by police officers. An investigation done by the Guardian, states that in 2015, officers killed almost 600 African Americans, and that black men and women are twice as likely to get killed by police than a white person. (Laughland). “A Justice Department civil rights investigation has concluded that the Ferguson Police Department and the city's municipal court engaged in a "pattern and practice" of discrimination against African-Americans, targeting them disproportionately for traffic stops, use of force, and
Police have been harassing and discriminating African Americans for many years and is one of the reasons why racism still exist in America today. One example of police racism that still exists today is the case of Michael Brown. In Ferguson, Missouri, a white police officer by the name of Darren Wilson shot and killed an unarmed black man by the name of Michael Brown. Darren Wilson was acquitted of any charges by a local jury and he had said in a interview on national television that he would do it again. All across America including Ferguson, African Americans and other people of color still face discrimination and are considered second- class citizens.
This case study talks about a man who ran over a black teen because he didn’t like the teen’s color. This can help me answer my essential question because some people do kill because of skin color. The man was faced with a hate crime for killing the black teen. It is very interesting to me that a person will kill just because of a race or skin color, did this person do something to the killer that makes me the killer want to kill him? This article is about a man in Oregon who mowed over a black teen and killed him.