Morgan Freeman once said “How do we stop racism? Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man, and i’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man”. To me this quote means if we stop labeling people racism might stop. In “To Kill A Mockingbird” Author Harper Lee wrote about the many examples of prejudice in maycomb. And how this prejudice influences the characters and events in maycomb.
Most of the discrimination in maycomb originates from the adults, although the children do pick up on this. This is shown when adults call Atticus a nigger-lover, so children at Jem and Scouts school pick up on this and in return call him a nigger-lover as well. One quote that shows this is when Francis says to Scout “he’s nothin’ but a nigger-lover” referring to Atticus (page 83). Francis said this about Atticus because He is defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. This shows how the children in maycomb pick up on the adults racism towards blacks and anybody associated with them.
However there are examples of blacks showing racism to whites. A prime example of this is when Calpurnia took Jem and Scout to “black” church. A quote from this section that shows racism is when Lula said “I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillun’ to nigger church”. She said this
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This entire case is filled with examples of discrimination. From the all white jury to him losing just because the jury members were to scared to let a black win over a white. This quote said by reverend sykes is a perfect example of discrimination in the case “Mr.Jem I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”. This is a great example because a black man that knows Tom is practically saying he won’t win. Just because he is black and Bob Ewell, Even if he is the worst man in maycomb, will win because of his color. That shows that the entire Tom Robinson case is unjust because of
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
Racial prejudice is shown greatly in this novel in Maycomb County. In the court scene in To Kill a Mockingbird there is a black section and a white section, which are segregated. The colored balcony ran along three walls of the courtroom like a second story veranda, and from it we could see everything (Lee 219). That shows an unfair segregation for the blacks because they have to sit in the balcony but the whites don’t. If a white man had committed the crime that Tom Robinson was accused of, the investigation would’ve been much more thorough. “Did you call a doctor, Sheriff?” asked Atticus. “No Sir,” said Mr. Tate (Lee 224). Just because he was a black man, they accused Tom of being guilty just because people said that he was. Although it isn’t directly related to the court scene, it is shown that there is racial prejudice when Tom runs from Mayella Ewell instead of staying so they thought him guilty for that. He would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to l...
The novel to kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, focuses on "Maycombs usual disease", but also shows the compassion and wisdom that can exist in the is most bleak areas. The prejudice throughout the novel comes from the fear to change what they have grown up with, and the lack of knowledge of Maycomb.
“We see the town of Maycomb in its worst light, willing to execute an innocent man for a crime he did not commit rather than question their belief in black inferiority and their social taboos about interracial relationships” (Felty 299). This quote may seem extreme, but it is completely accurate in Scout’s hometown Maycomb, Alabama. In the town of Maycomb, prejudices and discriminations are a common idea in the life of its citizens. This is shown in various ways. For example, African Americans are treated as lower class citizens because they are discriminated by white people. Scout perceives these prejudices and discriminations in different ways throughout the book. Scout’s views on the prejudices and discriminations in her society evolve
“Beneath the armor of skin and bone and mind, most of our colors are amazingly the same.” This quote by Aberjhani is very relatable to “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The novel by Harper Lee was published in 1960. The book involves racism, rape, and inequality. A major theme in the book is unfairness. Maycomb County is a small, prejudice town in Alabama. The town is divided between racist Whites, and innocent Blacks. African Americans had no rights and no power in the 1930s. Whites had a lot more rights, and had power over the Black community. From innocent Blacks being killed, court siding with Whites, Maycomb is a very unfair town.
Tom was very confused when he was accused of this incident because he had never been anything more to Mayella Ewell than an acquaintance. “The older you grow the more of it you’ll see. The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box”(Lee 220). This is how Atticus described the trial to his son Jem because he could not comprehend how unjust the trial was unfolding on a daily basis. The proceedings were not equitable towards Tom Robinson because everyone should have realized at the trial that he had not done anything wrong. In the end, Atticus lost the trial. Not because the jury and judge thought Tom Robinson had committed the crime, but simply because he was black and they were racist. Tom was sent to jail for doing absolutely nothing wrong, except being black. He never had the luxury to grow into old age, as his life was taken from him when he was shot seventeen times during his attempt to escape from jail. Tom Robinson’s life would have been completely different if he had not been black. The discrimination would not have occurred and the accusations would not have been leveled or
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere”. Martin Luther King envisioned a world in which society lived without hate but in peace with one another, his dream was cut short when he was assassinated purely because of the racial prejudice someone had. The injustice he faces relates heavily to his quote as it speaks the truth about the innocence of one person and it must be protected from the evil of society. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee, addresses the cruel society in which injustice is served based on the withstanding prejudice and racism the town of Maycomb contains. The author addresses this to the reader through the use of characters that symbolize the victims of
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.
Racism in To Kill A Mockingbird is very common, and it is an important part in the story. Racism is shown by the Caucasians in Maycomb against the African-Americans in many different ways like when the jury convicts Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. The details of Tom Robinson raping Mayella Ewell are very vague and do not show enough evidence that Mayella Ewell was raped. When the jury of all Caucasian men decide to vote if Tom Robinson is guilty
The novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee has numerous accounts of racism and prejudice throughout the entire piece. The novel is set in the 1930's, a time when racism was very prevalent. Although bigotry and segregation were pointed in majority towards blacks, other accounts towards whites were also heard of, though not as commonly. There are acts that are so discreet that you almost don't catch them, but along with those, there are blatant acts of bigotry that would never occur in our time. Lee addresses many of these feelings in her novel.
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
The citizens of Maycomb are also physically assaulted by racial discrimination. Racism is a pointless problem that is caused by prejudice and it can be controlled by everyone. Works Cited Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1960.
Maycomb has a majority of its population as racist white Americans and when faced with a case such as Tom Robinson’s the white people of Maycomb would stop at no means to keep the African-American from being proved innocent. Some may support the claim that ‘because of Maycomb’s racist beliefs Atticus would be wasting his time defending a black man with a sealed fate’ with Atticus’s verbalization of Maycomb’s beliefs on page 273 “The evil assumption--- that all negroes lie, that all negroes are immoral beings”(273). Yet, Those who say that claim is true forget that even though Atticus lost the case there was someone in the jury who was reconsidering their old beliefs. On page 297, After Tom’s court case when Atticus was speaking to Jem, Atticus’s son comments on how seemingly quick the jury was to decide if Tom was innocent or not which in turn Atticus says “that jury took a few hours, Usually takes ‘em minutes”. Atticus further explains that at least one person in the jury had argued against Tom being actually guilty after Atticus directly addressed the Jury’s racist perspectives. So yes, Maycomb may be a town overrun with racism against African Americans but if Atticus could convince at least one or two people to stop and put themselves in Tom Robinson’s shoes Atticus could spread the thought that “Maybe not all negroes are as we think they are”. Thus Atticus
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by harper lee, racism is lead to many of the characters. Muhammad Ali said ,“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong.” In the book