The beloved children’s song Jesus Loves the Little Children teaches that Jesus loves everybody regardless of race through the words, “Red and yellow, black and white they are precious in his sight.” However the world is corrupt and does not treat different races as equal. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Nelle Harper Lee shows the injustice of racism through the story of Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson. Atticus, a lawyer with two children, defends Tom a black man who had been unfairly accused of raping a young white girl Mayella Ewell. Throughout the story Lee demonstrates the racism of the citizens of Maycomb as the white townspeople segregate themselves from the blacks, and the black people allow the whites to do what they want without objecting. In fact, racism influences the people of Maycomb to unjustly convict black people in court, separates the blacks from the whites and causes the blacks to have fatalistic views on life.
First, the people of Maycomb unjustly convict black people through their racism. Regardless of the evidence, a black person cannot win in the court of Maycomb. To illustrate, in the Tom Robinson case, Atticus proves Tom’s innocence, but the jury still convicts him. Even though the truth is
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clear and looking them in the face, the court only sees Tom as a black man and therefore guilty. Additionally, Atticus did everything he could, but “in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (241). Racism makes the townspeople so blind to logic and justice that they would convict a black man without any evidence. Clearly, Maycomb’s racism influences its outlook on justice for blacks. Next, racism in Maycomb influences the people to separate the blacks from the whites.
In almost every aspect of life, the whites have a different place than the blacks. For instance, the blacks have completely different living quarters. While the whites have nice houses, the blacks live in poor huts near the dump. The whites even attend a different church than the blacks. Also, the people of Maycomb scorn those who have mixed race families and refuse to associate with them. If a white person’s relative is black than the town will treat the person as black because in Maycomb, “once you have a drop of Negro blood, that makes you all black” (162). Obviously, due to prejudice the whites and blacks in Maycomb separate themselves whenever
possible. Lastly, the extreme racism in Maycomb prompts the blacks to accept their social standing without even thinking that life could be better. Many blacks see their situation as hopeless and accept their predicament as normal. For example, when asked why he ran from Mayella, Tom shows that he has no faith he could win against a white man by saying to the prosecutor that he was “scared I’d hafta face up to what I didn’t do” (198). Tom expects the Ewells to falsely accuse him of rape and knows he will not have a fair trial. A few days later, Tom Robinson tries to escape from a prison camp after he loses one trial. Even though he has a chance to win in another court, Tom accepts the fact that another jury will find him guilty because of his color; therefore, he tries to run away instead of fighting what he sees as a lost cause. Undoubtedly, Tom and many other black people in Maycomb have fatalistic views due to the townspeople’s’ racism. In conclusion, the racism in Maycomb clearly inhibits justice, causes separation, and raises fatalistic attitudes. Even though some citizens of Maycomb do not like racism, they cannot overcome it. Instead of hating the black community, the people of Maycomb should obey God’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” and treat the blacks as human beings (Mark 12: 31, NIV). Also, the townspeople should follow Jesus’s example and mingle with the blacks, the tax collectors and “sinners” of their time. Jesus even demonstrated his love for mankind by dying on the cross to take away all of the world’s sins not just the Jews’, God’s chosen people. Admittedly, the process of defeating discrimination is difficult, but by working together and with God’s help people can do almost anything, even abolishing racism.
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
This was a time of racial segregation, where blacks were not permitted to go to the same schools as the whites. They could not sit in the same restaurants, sit in the same part of the courthouse, use the same public restrooms or drink at the same water fountains. Everyone in Maycomb, from children to adults, accused Atticus and his children of being "black lovers." Atticus, with all this turmoil, stayed calm. He taught his children to accept the differences between one human being and another.
This demonstrates to the reader that Maycomb was an area where prejudice against black people could be traced back to their ancestors, and this prejudice had been passed down from generation to generation. At that time, the people of Maycomb disapproved of Atticus attempting to win the case. They had expected him to take it on as a mere formality, not to try and secure Tom's acquittal. Despite their displeasure, the people of Maycomb were, in fact, allowing Atticus to do something that some of them secretly desired but lacked the courage to attempt. As Aunt Alexandra notes, "They're perfectly willing to let him do what they are too afraid to do themselves.
Harper Lee wrote, “when Atticus turned away from Mayella he looked like his stomach hurt.” during the trial. (chapter 18) People tried to force their way into prison and kill Tom Robinson. A group of white men including Mr Cunningham really wanted him killed as the town believed the white family’. They chose the Ewells over Tom Robinson because he is black. There were two churches in Maycomb, one for the blacks and one for the whites. This is another example of racism. They also had separate seating arrangements in the courthouse for white and black
“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.
Hypocrisy is as much a part of Maycomb’s society as church and community spirit. For example, Mrs. Merriweather talks about saving the poor Mruans from Africa, but she thinks black people in her community are a disgrace (p.234). The hypocrisy of this teaching is shown as soon as she mentions the word ‘persecution’. This is due to the fact that she herself is persecuting the black people of Maycomb by not raising an eyebrow at the killing of innocent black men. Furthermore, it is obvious Bob Ewell is abusive to his daughter, Mayella, and that he is the one who violated her, not Tom Robinson (p.178). Since there is such hypocrisy in Maycomb, there are excuses made for whites. The jury probably thinks that if they pronounce Tom innocent the citizens will mock them as they do to Atticus. Harper Lee uses hypocrisy to show how the people of Maycomb are so engulfed in a variety of elements that they unknowingly complete acts of unjustified discrimination.
People in this world get judged because they were black back then and judged for being mean to others and being judged even though those people don't really know you. Because people judge others, and tell the community how they should think about them, those who are judged can become lonely. Tom Robinson is an innocent man but because of his color the white people in Maycomb think that he is guilty and they decide to lie about what Tom did just because of his color. Tom was accused of raping a girl and had to go to court because of his color. The people of Maycomb were trying so hard just to get Tom into jail for no good reason.
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
In To Kill a Mockingbird, many things occur to be simple and everyone’s happy, but it’s not always peachy in Maycomb Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird tells of a little girl’s love for her family and life living in a racist community filled with judgmental people (Shackelford). This was the time where black people were treated unfairly in courts, especially in Alabama (Johnson). Alabama was the most racist part of the south, everything was separated and blacks were treated like dirt that the whites walked on. In the book, blacks did not have many rights and had to be servants and workers for the whites.
Throughout History, men have looked down on blacks and women. But this does not justify the view that blacks and women are below white men. When people look down on blacks and women, they preform injustice. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is full of injustice. During this time period, everyone looked down on blacks and women, which makes Maycomb one in the same with the discriminators. In particular, the people in Maycomb looked down on Tom Robinson, and many others looked down on Scout. Around the Finch household, Aunt Alexandria always tries to do away with Calpurnia, the black housekeeper and cook as Alexandria says, “We don’t need her (Calpurnia) now.” (182). Injustices in Maycomb include the case of Tom Robinson, the way Aunt Alexandra treats Calpurnia, and the way people treat Scout.
Few people are the same as they are on the street in their homes. Few people can treat others equally; no matter what colour their skin is. Atticus Finch is one of those precious few. Racism in the town of Maycomb is nothing but disguised by the polite smiles and ladies missionary meetings; although it is the strongest belief that each person of the town holds apart from some such as Atticus. Racism is an issue of great importance, yet to the eye of a visitor waltzing through, it's just a slight whisk of air.
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.
...act that black men are not always guilty. The racism in Maycomb prevents proper justice from being served, resulting in terribly unfair verdicts.
People are responsible for acting according to their conscience. The justice system was created in order to be our aid in making moral and ethical decisions, but when the Justice system fails, we should still be able to follow our conscience to make the right the decision. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” one of the characters, Atticus Finch, helps not only characters in the book, but the readers, understand that the legal system does not always serve justice, in fact, the legal system only is as moral and just as the community it serves. In the town of Maycomb, just like many towns in the American south during the 1930s, racism as a personal feeling and racism as a cultural, legal, and economic institution are practically one
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.