How Does Tom Robinson Use Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird

Nelson Mandela once said, “People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” In the south during the Great Depression, segregation and racism occurred. Children were raised thinking white people were superior to black people, and people spreading rumors and false beliefs about anyone who is not white. Harper Lee, in To Kill a Mockingbird, exposes the extreme racism in a small Southern town through the characters Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, and the other members of the black community.

Solely, because Tom Robinson is an African American man during this time period, he is falsely accused of the rape and mistreatment

The white people had cooks and maids. The cooks and maids were people from the black community. The Finches had one named Calpurnia. She was helped tidy up the house while also cooking and doing laundry for the family. After her workday was done, Atticus drives her home, but she has to sit in the backseat of the car. Also, Calpurnia goes through the back door of people’s homes because black people do not go to the front door. Calpurnia helps raise the kids in a mother-like way and is she is like the Finch’s family, but in small ways not always treated like

Some white people are kind to black people and some black people are unkind to white people. We meet these characters in the novel. Atticus does not show racism in the book because he is the only white male who would stick up for the rights of a black man. In the town of Maycomb they have segregated churches, so when white people go the African American church there are some black people that are racist to the white people. Lula is a black woman at Calpurnia's church who is furious that Calpurnia has brought Jem and Scout to their Sunday service. She impolitely tells to the children “You ain't got no business bringing' white chillun here - they got their church, we got our'n" (129 Lee) The black people are also prejudiced against the white people, and this act takes place in a religious milieu, where one should love his neighbor, no matter the color of skin. Also within the community of Maycomb, the developing children learn to be racist because they have learned from their parents and people whom they trust. Scout shares throughout the novel some incidents of racism. She was very upset when Cecil Jacobs called Atticus a “black-lover,” and he picked on her for her father standing up for Tom