How To Kill A Mockingbird Injustice

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place in Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression when racism was active, the stock market crashed, and asylums for the mentally ill were not sufficient. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the narrator named Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus, have multiple encounters with three characters dealing with three common issues found during the 1930’s. Tom Robinson is an African American man who was wrongly accused of rape solely because of the hatred towards African Americans during the 1930’s (“Historical Context”). The Cunninghams are a family of farmers living in the South who suffering from the stock market crash that began the Great Depression (“Historical Context”). Boo Radley is slightly

After a sufficient amount of evidence proved that Tom Robinson was innocent, he was falsely accused and convicted of raping a white woman named Mayella (Lee 282). In fact, the evidence proved that his accuser which was also Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, was guilty of abusing her because she showed interest in Tom Robinson (Lee 238). In the 1930’s, accusing African Americans for a crime that a white person committed was not uncommon (“History Context”). An anonymous author talks about accusing African Americans in the 1930’s when he states, “[African Americans] could be arrested, tried, and even convicted with little cause” (“Historical Context”). There was not evidence against Tom Robinson, only Mayella and Bob Ewell’s accusations, but Tom Robinson was an easy target for Bob Ewell because it was easy to accuse an African American during this time period (Lee 272). Also, the jury that ruled Tom Robinson guilty was an all white jury, making them bias to Ewell’s story (Lee 219). This was because African Americans were excluded from serving on the jury until the 1950’s (“Historical Context”). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays the injustice of court systems in the 1930’s, and this is partially due to the racism against African Americans that was still

During the trial, Atticus Finch makes a comment about the way whites view African Americans when he states, “[I am] confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption –the evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, and that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, and assumption one associated with the minds of their caliber” (Lee, 273). Atticus is speaking to the jury about the false stereotype that white people had against African Americans during the 1930’s. Hatred for African Americans was very prominent during the 1930’s, especially in the South (“Historical Context”). Their hatred was so strong, the practice of lynching African Americans was still common (“Historical Context”). When Tom Robinson was moved to the county jail, a crowd of men warned Atticus that people might come try to lynch Tom (Lee 194). The group did arrive, but Scout conversed with them, and made them want to leave (Lee 206). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee addresses the issue of racism against African Americans during the 1930’s, and she highlights segregation that was taking place as