Negroes up North have no respect for people. They think they can get away with anything” (132). After being warned by her mom to pretend she did not know about Emmett, Ann is forced to suppress her feelings of anger towards the white people who committed this act. However, she also starts to feel resentment grow for the colored people who pretended to not care about his death. This anger at the Caucasian race for the inequality of the races eventually spurred Ann to join the NAACP, a group put together to fight racism and fight for equal rights.
There was racism that was directed towards the whites when Jem and Scout were brought to First Purchase and were not welcomed by Lula. Negroes didn’t want to be near whites and vise versa. This affected the children of Maycomb County, going back to when Jem cries because he was aware that the jury knew Robinson was innocent and wasn’t given justice. Therefore, there was a time where racial prejudice was to blacks and as well as whites. Social prejudice was also a big topic in To Kill A Mockingbird.
These outsiders serve mainly to be scorned by the “higher” members of society, and to make those “insiders” feel better about themselves. The character that is most easily recognizable as an outsider in The Bluest Eye is Pecola Breedlove, but her father, Cholly, who has had his own experiences with self-hatred, initially establishes her self-hatred and status as an outsider. The beginning of this vicious cycle takes place during Cholly’s adolescence. The origin of his self-hatred is his first sexual experience, which is interrupted by two white men catching he and Darlene in the act. Though Cholly was humiliated by the white men, “he hated the one who had created the situation, the one who bore witness to his failure, his impotence” (151).
He asks Richard what the co-workers had said and that they would be punished but Richard’s fear is too great and just accepts his pay and leaves. White supremacy is shown clearly in this instance where his co-workers feel that they had every right to scare a child and make him feel completely inferior. They did not want African Americans to feel like they had a voice, equality and certainly did not want blacks to feel as if they were someone of importance. The fact that Southern whites fear and discourage black migration to the North exposes the degree to which their pride and even their very economic welfare depends on the presence of blacks. Racism is a means to an end, as oppressors employ racist measures in order to achieve power over another group.
These groups were determined to prevent integration at all costs. In 1957 the principal of Little Rock High School was getting death threats and threats to bomb the school. Yet another cause was that Eisenhower had little faith in the measures to support the Black community in the south because a change in heart was required and you can not enforce that. He felt that enforcing these laws may make matters even worse. When Eisenhower finally did something and sent the 1,000 paratroopers, a lot of the people in America were extremely annoyed, the west and north were angry that it didn't happen sooner and the south were angry that it happened at all, and disowned Eisenhower as a southerner.
As a white living in this County, I can see how visible and evident racial prejudice against the blacks has clouded the minds of many. Bob Ewell is one example of which racial prejudice has taken over his righteous mind. He had accused the innocent Tom Robinson for raping his daughter, Mayella Ewell. During the proceedings of the trial, however, was humiliated by Atticus Finch as he pointed the lies and flaws that lied in his testimony. Just yesterday, he had done another act which is hideous of mankind, taking revenge on Atticus Finch’s children, Jeremy Finch and Jean Louise Finch.
When Richard and Harrison agree to fight themselves for money they end up humiliating themselves. For the two men are unable to fake a fight and are thus forced to actually injure one another due in part to the fear that the white viewers invoke on them. This fight in the end deeply ashamed Richard for it got him to realize that violence infects the black community in general, whether from within or from the white community’s imposed violence. When Richard grows up he moves to Chicago and joins the Communist movement. However he learns quickly that the police beat protesting Communists and Richard is forced to move from one outcast group to another, never truly escaping reality.
He witnessed a lot of racism growing up; seeing his house burned down and his father being killed. He had it rough growing up, and he was angry with all that had happened because of the racism in America, and he just wanted blacks to be able to defend themselves. But with how America was back then, whites would have been living in fear, because newspapers would be printed out saying “Blacks strike again” on the headline. King did not want blacks to retaliate because it just would have added to the fire. With everything that King stood for and how he was able to back them with such powerful speeches; it’s easy to say that King’s philosophy made more sense than Malcolm X’s
These people felt that if they tried to rock the boat and fight for equality the rights they have already acquired will be stripped away. In Melba Patillo Beals autobiography Warriors Don’t Cry the anger against her integration of Central High School was evident in the African-American community around her. Melba and the other 8 students integrating Central High School not only endured the constant bullying by their tormentors inside the school they had to endure the loneliness of being abandoned by their community and all their friends because the community was afraid of the repercussions they would endure because of their involvement with the
However, due to this, the other children taunt the children in school, resulting in scout having fights with them; meanwhile, Atticus had an unpleasant encounter with a group of white men who were planning on lynching Tom Robinson. This shows the racial discrimination at that time and how the black had little rights. However, Atticus still treats them as men, not like the other racist white men who treat them like animals. The crisis Atticus had to face was only averted by the arrival of the children, Jem, Scout and Dill as they forced the mob of people to see things in Atticus and Tom’s point of view, which drove them away in shame. In the film, there was a saying that really got my attention.