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Racial injustice in the justice system
Racial injustice in the justice system
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To Kill a Mockingbird is a literary classic that presents many topics of past and present America. The story is told from the eyes of a six-year-old Caucasian child, Scout, that is raised with her older brother, Jem, by their widowed father, Atticus, who is a lawyer for their fictional town Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s – around the Great Depression times. There are two main plots that are carried throughout the story, but above the other, the main storyline is the case Atticus is assigned defending an African American man, Tom Robinson, in court for being falsely accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, who was proven to be sexually abused and beaten by her own father, Bob Ewell. Given the evidence provided, Tom was still sentenced …show more content…
to death. Jem gets upset and learns one of the four lessons presented in the book, the world is not fair. Following the trial, Tom tries to escape prison out of fear and gets shot seventeen times in the back. The second storyline, is Jem and Scout wanting to make their neighbor who is made out to be a creepy man who hasn’t come out of his house in years, Arthur “Boo” Radley. Towards the end of the book, the kids are walking home in the dark from a school play, Bob Ewell seeks revenge on Atticus, and goes after his vulnerable children in the dark. He breaks Jem’s arm, and being close to the Radley house, Boo hears Jem’s scream and comes to save the children, killing Bob with his own knife. The kids do not know what happened because it was dark, but Scout over hears her father talking to the sheriff about covering up Bob’s death by saying he tripped on his own knife. Atticus is hesitant about allowing this story because he doesn’t want his kids to think lying is okay, but Scout says it is okay if he does it. Boo was antisocial, and if the truth got out everyone in town would deem him a hero and it would make him uncomfortable to get all that attention. Here Scout understands what her father and neighbor meant by killing mockingbirds is a sin. In To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee, provides its readers with important themes, real-life characters, and true history. The book is a first person narrated story leveled for grades 6 through 12. It was published December 25, 1962. Topics we addressed in class that appear in this read were racism and discrimination, stereotyping, education, and multicultural practices in adolescents. Key themes presented in To Kill a Mockingbird were the coexistence of good and evil, existence of social inequality, and moral education – events that a young girl witnesses though out the book. I will be analyzing the issues presented in the book that caused controversy in school boards all over the world and impacted life outside of it. There are four lessons Scout is made to learn throughout the book, which are: 1.
put yourself in other people’s shoes, 2. don’t kill mockingbirds, 3. keep fighting even if you know you’ll lose, and 4. the world is unfair. While this might not make sense now, it will soon. In this story, Atticus is the voice of reason for the children and for most of the town. As one of the supporting characters in the book said, “… this town… they’re perfectly willing to let him do what they’re too afraid to do themselves.” Atticus is far from racist like few people in the town of Maycomb. For this, when Tom’s case arose, Atticus was runner up for defending Tom Robinson. The judge knew no other lawyer was going to defend a black man in court, even less if they were fighting against such an accusation. African Americans are portrayed as criminals, dangerous, aggressive, liars, and competent of rape, apparently. Given that the author was, Lee broke that stereotype in her book by writing Tom as a gentleman, innocent, and respectful African American man. Even though proven innocent, no white jury in Maycomb, Alabama was going to let a black man accused of raping a white woman walk out of their court house innocent, regardless of the evidence acquired. This was total discrimination. Consider that segregation was over now. Blacks might have been on the bottom most tier and whites at the top, but now they were equal. In chapter 3 of Affirming Diversity, discrimination is defined as, “(whether …show more content…
based on race, gender, social class, or other differences) denotes negative or destructive behaviors that can result in denying some groups life’s necessities as well as the privileges, rights, and opportunities enjoyed by other groups,” (Neito & Bode, 63). Tom was a victim of discrimination. He did not have a fair trial at all. Everyone in the court house knew Tom was innocent, but the anger those white men carried that for once a black man was proven guilty led to Tom’s death. The children learn lesson three - keep fighting even if you know you’ll lose. There are many historical issues addressed in the text like the Great Depression, the Ku Klux Klan, a big one – civil rights, the Scottsboro case, and many others. If you are not familiar with the Scottsboro case, it happened in 1931, where six African American boys were accused of raping a white woman. Sound familiar? The boys were set for the death penalty, as well. In other cases, black boys were lynched for allegedly catcalling a white woman. The list goes on with these cases. For students to learn about this history in a book is a great way to get them engaged and thinking earlier on in life about them, before they even begin to take social studies classes. That way they can relate the material to this book. Furthermore, Scout is made aware that one of her classmates’ family is very poor, and that the Great Depression hit them hard. After finding out that the boys’ family was going through a tough time, Scout invited him over for dinner at her house even though he had been mean to her once. Here Scout learns the first lesson of putting herself in other’s shoes. The historical and social issues are presented from six-year-old Scout who is smarter and more curious about things that most other children her age. She wonders and asks. Her father does not hold back on things that seem inappropriate to say to a child. Like a classmate of mine in BME 210, her father had to lecture her at a young age about why being black is a disadvantage and what to do when a police officer talks to her, or what not to wear at night. It is truly heartbreaking to have children learn these things as kids, but at the same time I admire the parents who do that – that make their children aware of what real life is all about. Children should not have to worry about these sort of things, but at one point they will. For me, and I am sure for every other reader, Scout is the narrator and Atticus is the subconscious.
Atticus leads his children in directions that are nonprejudiced and correct. Lesson two: don’t kill mockingbirds. The meaning behind this is that mockingbirds do not do anything bad, but make music, thus anyone who is weak or defenseless, “to kill a mockingbird is to take advantage of someone weaker than you”. This is the lesson Scout recognizes when Tom loses his trial. Not only is Tom an African American man, but he is also being accused of rape. The color of his skin is his disadvantage, it makes him weak and defenseless, and to be accused of such an act is like killing a mockingbird. He stood no chance. For me personally, I would love for my students to be able to learn this because it is such a simple, yet so complex idea that we see every
day. There are no illustrations in this book for being a kid’s book. While there are a variety of covers of the book, mine has a black silhouette of Scout and Jem under a tree. On the contrary, do I believe there is anything stereotypical of the cover. Scout is in overalls with a bowl cut. She is the opposite of the image of a girl, as one of her aunts once told her. She is a tomboy, raised by her father who allows her to dress however she pleases. Nowadays this would be a stereotype: single fathers raising a tomboy girl, but back in 1962, the year the book was published, it would not be a stereotype, but more of a taboo presentation. It could portray a social class minority. While the Finches are not the wealthiest family in Maycomb, they were not hit as bad by the Great Depression, since they still have money to pay Calpurnia their cook, and for Atticus to have Scout dressed in hand-me-down clothes, her attire portrays a southern child’s. Lastly, I would not change anything to improve the textbook. I am sure some other people would do without the repetition of the word “nigger”, but I think it is just fine the way it is. This is real life. These kinds of events happen in real life. Is it appropriate for twelve-year old’s? I think so. Children already say a bunch of words, the “n” word is nothing compared to what they say nowadays. This book exemplifies perfectly what a six grader should be reading. It begins to give them insight to the truths of our historical background as a country, and gives the students a firsthand experience, being about Jem’s age, as to what children back then went through.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself
Atticus Finch is another victim of prejudice in the novel. After accepting to defend Tom Robinson, the town doesn't treat Atticus as an equal. The people of Maycomb believe that Atticus should not present a proper defense for a black person. Atticus doesn't care for this because he believes in equal rights. Atticus does not believe in racism or prejudice. Many people believe that Atticus should not defend a black person in court. This is because many people in Maycomb think a black person is guilty before anything is announced. While Atticus is defending Tom, Atticus makes the jury think differently about Bob Ewell. This makes Bob threaten and disrespect Atticus and his family. Atticus is not bothered by this because he knows he is doing the
Lee uses Scout and Jem’s tumultuous childhood experiences to... has had many trials through her life, and on was in fact a trail of Tom Robinson, a black man accused in raping Mayella Ewell, one of the daughters of Bob Ewell, the town’s idler. Atticus, the children’s father, was defending Tom Robinson, and the case seemed to be in favor of him, all the way to the point of Jem stating, “He’s not leaning, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it..Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-”(Lee 176). Jem is very confident in his father’s argument, and believes that the case will lean to Tom,
One of the major events in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson’s trial. It is based on the Scottsboro Case that took place in 1931 in Alabama, in which several black men were accused of raping two white women. Both the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson are unfairly judged, however, because of prejudice against colored people. The racial discrimination makes whites’ testimony more believable even when it contradicts itself. The same happens in To Kill a Mockingbird. As we delve deeper into the case and get increasingly closer to the truth, it is quite suprising to see that Mayella Ewell is the true villain rather than a victim. She shall and must bear full responsibility for her actions because she makes the decision to tempt Tom Robinson, gives false testimony in court that directly leads to Tom’s death, and has been well aware of the consequences of her behaviors.
In life, obstacles are everywhere, but hints are given as to how to overcome those obstacles with which we are faced daily. In short, To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town in Alabama known as Maycomb. Just outside of Mobile, Maycomb happens to be a typical southern town where not much happens until one summer Tom Robinson is accused of rape. Tom, a black man, in the segregated south in the thirties has the odds stacked against him when going on trial. However, Tom's case has been taken on by the best lawyer in town, Atticus Finch, but proving Tom's innocence has challenges due to the strong white presence in the town. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, Atticus’ name and the relationship between Tim Johnson and Tom Robinson, symbolize how
Yet he took the case with no hesitation. Atticus knows the difference between what is fair and what is true justice. He is well aware that whites and blacks have many differences with one another, but is also educated enough to know that there truly is no diversity in equity, and tries to teach everyone including his children this. ”You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around it.(30)” Atticus is encouraging Scout to respect everyone and consider their true potential without considering false accusations in this quote. He applies what he teaches to his children to the people attending the Tom Robinson trial. Atticus is just one man, but with an unprecedented amount of sense of pride, intelligence, and justice. He reflects the image of the town’s people by showing them what they’ve allowed themselves to become based on their beliefs. He genuinely expresses their deepest consternation. In this quote he tells the audience what they are afraid to hear, but need to hear, “She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man. Not an old uncle, but a strong young Negro man. No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards.(272)” After stating his point and releasing the profound truth Atticus causes for Mayella and Bob Ewell to lose their composure. Nevertheless people of most of the white people of Maycomb continue to refuse to believe that a white woman kissed a black man. But they undoubtedly believe that a black man with a useless left hand beat and raped an “innocent” white woman. Atticus could have predicted the outcome from before he even took the case and refused to defend Tom Robinson. But he
The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. An innocent but humorous stance in the story is through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch. Scout is a young adolescent who is growing up with the controversy that surrounds her fathers lawsuit. Her father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, with the charge of raping a white girl. The lives of the characters are changed by racism and this is the force that develops during the course of the narrative.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
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.
Racial prejudice is widespread in the county of Maycomb, and a prime example is the Tom Robinson case. Tom, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella, a white woman. Atticus puts forward all evidence from his witnesses that clearly proves Tom was innocent, Jem even says, ?and we?re gonna win Scout. I don?t see how we can?t? (pg 206), but Tom still received a ?Guilty? verdict. Atticus tried removing the prejudiced thoughts of the jurors by saying, ??the assumption - the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings??. (pg 208). Atticus? saying insinuated the point that all of God?s children were created equal. To the jury, the only important thing was that Tom was black and the accuser was white, he never stood a chance under those conditions. These racial tensions between blacks and whites had made their way into the courtroom, a place where everyone should receive a fair trial no matter what race or colour, but an unjust verdict was reached. The prejudice that was felt towards Tom made him lose all hope of freedom, and as a result, he died upon an escape attempt. Tom was victim of racial prejudice and loss of hope.
In a racist town where people are overly judged based on rumors spread around. A man who has yet to be seen named Boo Radley is made into the town monster. Little do they know that Bob is one of the only people in Maycomb who does not judge people by their race. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, the main character Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the little town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch the father of Scout and Jem has been faced with one of the hardest cases of his life. Atticus is forced to defend a black man named Tom Robinson on the fact that he raped a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Some people may argue that it does not make sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson, because he will lose his trust
He hopes that no one will judge Jem and Scout in light of their father defending a black person. More importantly, he hopes that his children will not become racist and bitter due to seeing how ugly and complicated of a case this case will be due to involving two races. He knew what he is getting himself into is not going to be easy, he says to Scout,” You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change… it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning"(101). Atticus knows that he and his family are going to face a lot of derision from many people in their town, he expresses to Scout that she will have to face a lot of criticism. It will be for the higher purpose of defending/helping Tom Robinson, an innocent man that deserves justice. He also expresses to Scout that she should not listen to what people say and not let the negativity get to her. He tells Scout that she should hold her head high and not to be violent. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson because he
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, revolves around the theme of racial discrimination. The book portrays the inequalities that exist between whites and blacks in Maycomb County during the 1930s. The stereotype of the black man plays a large role in how each member of the community is treated in Maycomb. This essay will demonstrate how the trial and conviction of Tom Robinson, a Negro man, is important in order to understand the novel as a whole.
Throughout the novel of “To Kill A Mockingbird” the lack of proper Judicial evaluation is pervasive in the town of Maycomb in many different forms and it is preventing those of minorities who go to trial a lack of prejudice or equality. Tom Robinson is petrified that he is going to fail the trial, as well as the rest of the black community and minorities because, the Maycomb court system discriminates towards minorities, and favors whites.
The story takes place in a small, old town known as Maycomb which Atticus and his two children, Jem and Scout call home. They are a closely knit family that go through many ups and downs. Atticus is a very wise man who helps his children through difficult situations by giving them lessons. Often in life the important lessons a person learns are not learned at school but in the community they live and by the people who surround them. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird the two main characters Jem and Scout Finch learn a number of valuable lessons from their father Atticus and their neighbours that live in Maycomb. The importance of education is emphasized throughout To Kill a Mockingbird but the most valuable lessons are learned outside