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Consquences of racism in to kill a mockingbird
Racial views in to kill a mockingbird
Racial views in to kill a mockingbird
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In chapter 12, Calpurnia brought Scout and Jem into a black church and they weren't accepted at first because of Lula. She didn't want to have white children in their church. “You ain’t got no business bringin‘ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?" African Americans and whites didn't go to the same church and schools. So when Scout and Jem went to their church, it was very strange for both racial groups. People were so used to being segregated in certain areas that it was such a surprise to see two white kids in an African American church. Scout and Jem didn't feel comfortable with it either. In the text it says “Jem said, “Let’s go home, Cal, they don’t want us here—.” Then Calpurnia
made a point about how they were just going to church praising the same God. This shows that some people were prejudice towards other racial groups. Lula didn't even get to know Scout, and Jem before she judged them. She focused on their skin not how they were only there to praise the same God.
When Calpurnia was confronted by Lula about bringing Scout and Jem to a black church, Jem says, "Let's go home, Cal, they don't want us here.'" Zeebo, a black man who attends the church, says, "We're mighty glad to have you all here. Don't pay no tention to Lula... she's a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas and haughty ways.'" Even though it is a black church, most of the congregation welcomes the white children. This identifies with line 10 of "Two Worlds."
Scout’s family is completely against racism and prejudice. In the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis tell Scout that it is a disgrace for Atticus to defend Tom, even though Francis is Scouts cousin, also when Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is happy. Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons it shows that the Scout, Jem and Atticus must not be racist or prejudiced.
Accused of raping a poor white girl, innocent Tom Robinson is now faced with a desperate trial. “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” (Lee 273). Atticus delivers a powerful speech to the courthouse audience highlighting the disturbing truth of the unfair society. Although there was substantial evidence proving Tom’s innocence against Mayella Ewell, Tom was convicted for the rape the Ewell’s made up to disguise their guilty faults. The stereotypical accusation of the unjustifiable verdict costed Tom his life, when he grew “tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” (Lee 315). There are always two sides to a story and specifically someone from the black community had their strong opinion on those of the white community. When Calpurnia brought Jem and Scout to her church, they were interrogated by an angered Lula. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee 158). Lula makes a stereotypical judgement, after seeing Jem and Scout she immediately labels them white, and we can infer her thoughts are pulled from her prior knowledge of the stereotypical racist white community. She has never met Jem and Scout yet is quick to group
Although most discrimination appears as white people against African American people, there is one case where the discrimination appears as African American people against white people. On a Sunday when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, is not home, Calpurnia, their cook, takes the two children to her church. Once there they were confronted by a woman named Lula. She is racist against white people, and shows it by saying, “‘I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun to n***er church’” (Lee 158).
First of all, contrasting the book, the movie never shows or hints to the scene where Jem and Scout go to Calpurnia’s church with her. It can be seen that the respect directed at the Finches by the blacks grows throughout the story as Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, a black man. However, it is also made known that not every black person has respect for the Finches. The importance of the church scene shows both of these statements to be true as many people in Calpurnia’s church don’t mind having Jem and Scout, white children, around; they even welcome them. The other side of the coin is shown when Calpurnia has to defend the children when she gets into a bout with Lula while having Jem and Scout at the church. It also seems as though some characters have been left out of introduction such as Reverend Sykes, who is the preacher at Calpurnia’s church. The director of the movie rejected this scene since there is an alternative instance of black people d...
Religion is used as an excuse for the racial prejudices and discrimination. Some can be drunks and blame their actions on the bottle, but it is worse to use the Bible as an excuse. Miss Maudie is a wise, positive influence on Scout, as well as Jem and Dill. She is like Atticus in the way that she gives advice and knowledge to the kids, specifically Scout, when they are having conflict or troubles.
During the book Scout and Jem are at an age were people around them greatly affect their thoughts, views and ideas about the world. Although Atticus tried to raise them to treat Negroes as equals, people around them affected their views on them. A good example is when Dill questioned the seemingly rude way which Mr. Gilmer treated Tom Robinson. Scout replied by saying, "…after all he's just a Negro." (Lee 201). She believes it to be acceptable. This is not something her father put in her head but people in her town. The same also happens in the black community. When Atticus asks Calpurnia to watch his children for him while he is out, Calpurnia accepts and takes the children with her to church, a church for black people. When she arrives with the children, they are greeted kindly except by a few people. These people use the same reason as in the last example as to why they should not be there, because they are white.
First of all, Scout allows the reader to focus more on the exterior of situations. Children tend to experience things differently from others. Events that take place in society may be of great importance to adults and mean nothing to children. Things of importance differ between children and adults. But sometimes, a child’s perspective may be the best way to look at things. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the whole town was talking about Tom Robinson’s trial, especially since he was African American and Atticus, a white man, was to be his lawyer. According to reviewer Edwin Bruell in Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, “[To Kill A] Mockingbird, he tells us, is about the townspeople, not about Robinson” (Mancini 101)....
Jem and Scout are going to Calpurnia’s First Purchase church for the first time. Jem and Scout are the children of Atticus, a prominent white lawyer in Maycomb, and Calpurnia is their African American cook and nanny. Scout, the narrator, is describing her less-than-flattering view
Little by little Jem, Scout, and Dill get exposed to the real world; changing their perspective and their attitude towards people and subjects. This event focuses on Scout and Jem, Atticus is away and Calpurnia decides to take them to her church. While they are at the church Jem and Scout notice, Calpurnia talks a different way to negros than to whites. “‘Cal,’ I asked, “why do you talk niggertalk to the—to your folks when you know it’s not right?” ‘Well, in the first place I’m black—’ ‘That doesn’t mean you hafta talk that way when you know better,’ said Jem. Calpurnia tilted her hat and scratched her head, then pressed her hat down carefully over her ears. ‘It’s right hard to say,’ she said. ‘Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks’ talk at home it’d be out of place, wouldn’t it? Now what if I talked white-folks’ talk at church, and with my neighbors? They’d think I was puttin‘ on airs to beat Moses.’ ‘But Cal, you know better,’ I said. ‘It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not ladylike—in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin‘ more than they do. It aggravates ’em. You’re not gonna change any of them by talkin‘ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language.’” (167) Calpurnia
‘“We were ‘especially glad to have you here” sad Reverend Skyes “this church has no better friend than your daddy.”’ (Lee, 163) He tells Jean Louise Finch (Scout) during church. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the supporting characters, Reverend Sykes, is the leader of the only black church in maycomb also known as, First Purchase African M.E. Church, in the 1930’s and is a well-respected member of the black community. The Reverend is part of the black community who is grateful for Atticus’ help defending Tom robinson and wishes that everyone would just see each other as equals to just get along and demolish segregation. Reverend Sykes often shown acceptance towards the children s if they were his equal even though in the 1930’s
There are several physical boundaries of the novel. To begin, Scout & Jem, the two children of a well-known lawyer of the county, break the segregation boundary when the children joined Calpurnia, their African-American housekeeper, to the African-American church. This boundary is broken due to the fact that the children were white and they had been brought to a African-American church. They were harassed there by a lady named Lula. The lady said to Cal: “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here-they got their church, we got our’n.” Cal defends the children when she says, “It’s the same God, ain’t it?” showing truly how much she cares about them, defending the children from her own kind. This also shows that although people back
As a white child in the 1930s experiencing and understanding the effects of inequality, this brings on a whole new perspective for the reader. The close people around Scout such as Atticus, Jem and Calpurnia serve as her biggest influences and idols in life. The way Scout views inequality comes down to the way her father raised and taught her, particularly after her father takes on Tom Robinson's case. She is continuously ridiculed by her classmates and also looked down on by her distant relatives. Scout and her older brother Jem, start to understand inequality first when they attend a black church with Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a black housekeeper with a high education and also serves as a mother figure towards the children. Inequality is presented very highly in the black community, with very little exposure to education and resources. Most unable to read or write, many left with broken, stuttering or underdeveloped english communicative skills. Calpurnia is said to ‘speak another language’ when with the black community as they weren’t as fortunate as her to get an education. This was very strange
pg. 251-252). Besides discrimination and white privilege, gender discrimination also plays a role in this novel/film. Jem and Scout have grown up without a mother, and have a black house servant, Calpurnia, stand as a mother figure even though she and Scout do not get along. Throughout the movie, Scout is portrayed as not wanting to wear dresses and not acting “ladylike” as Calpurnia says.
The same situation as that of Jem and Scout is reflected beyond the novel relating to the separation within religious vicinities. Towards the beginning of Urofsky’s article, he reports, “a 21-year-old black man, Daniel Desdunes, attended a white church. He was arrested according to the law and charged with criminal violation” (Urofsky). By specifically targeting a man who was simply trying to pray, and changing his identification to a “criminal” directly relates to the Jim Crow laws proving the supremacy of the white group towards blacks. To further add, half way through the text, the white groups gave a counter statement to prove they are innocent: “… he did not have any rights attending our church…”