Published in 1896, “We Wear the Mask” is a lyric poem about oppressed black Americans forced to conceal their pain and frustration behind a cloak of happiness. During the time of the poem's publication, hostility and hate towards blacks was widespread throughout America. Although the Civil War had granted blacks their freedom from slavery and federal laws gave them the right to vote, own property, etc., they still were not treated as equals. Segregation become a big problem among blacks and whites. Schools, restaurants, libraries, even insignificant things such as water fountains were all segregated.
By the turn of the century, segregation was firmly in place, there was competition between the races and diminishing African American to second class citizens. Mays of the jobs that were available went to the whites and blacks that had skills or a profession they was generally used to serve black clients. African American they were barred from serving on juror duties and they got a much stronger punishment than the whites for the same crime. As the Jim Crow law made things harder to change so did social norms. Those living in the south always addressed white southerners as mister, miss, and ma’am even those who had no social norms.
She shows it through Atticus, Tom Robinson and the Negro community and Arthur “Boo” Radley. Social inequality can happen to someone because of a choice they made like Atticus or because of his or her color like the Negroes in the book or even because you are antisocial like Arthur. The era of the story had a big affect on all the examples because in the thirties it was wrong for a white man to actually try to defend a black man and, it was expected that Negroes were bad people when they were not. With Arthur’s case it is different, his was because of the fact they lived in a small town where everyone was in each others’ business
Prejudice is Everywhere “There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who’ll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance” (Lee 221). Atticus, the narrator’s father in To Kill a Mockingbird, expresses his disgust in the manner of how white men treat the African-American race. This part of the novel is only one example of the prejudices observed in To Kill a Mockingbird, as the novel highlights the issue throughout. Racism was a major issue a large number of men, women, and even children had to face during the time periods of the novels To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Scout, the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, is a young girl living in Maycomb, Alabama.
There can be no gain saying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community” (King 205). Blacks have been judge by their color and not by their actions so for any insignificant problem, they would be put in jail. However blacks got tired if the injustices that were being committed. “When you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you
Racism has been more of a social norm during the Great Depression than as an injustice, specifically the treatment towards African Americans. For example, in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus states, " There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads –they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white
Every race has people that are discriminatory and this includes groups lime the black panthers other African supremacy groups are just as guilty in the category if racist groups as the KKK. The problem with hate groups are that they skew views people have about other races causing them to themselves become racist subconsciously. Studies have taken place at Stanford university as well as the university at California berkley that have studied racism and subconscious racism are still a very prominent aspect of humanity. Part of the problem in the unsuccessful attempts to kill racism is that there are people who don't admit that it's real anymore. Acceptance is a viable part if repentance.
Emmitt Till Essay The case of Emmett Till is a devastating story but had a magnificent impact on America due to the treatment of blacks. With constant racial discrimination and segregation in the south the murder of Emmett Till is believed to be what sparked that civil rights movement. In the 1950’s blacks had little rights and were often mistreated due to their color. In order to make a point many protested, boycotted, and participated in civil disobedience. Sparking the civil rights movement and soon the Montgomery bus boycott Emmett Till committed the crime of whistiling/ flirting with a white woman.
So many times a person is judged because of the race or ethnicity they belong to. An example of this would be the recent situation in Ferguson Missouri and New York We all have a tendency to stereotype a person because they are different a different color, come from a different area, and because they may believe in different practices than we do. Jury Nullification is a process that allows jurors to acquit an individual, even when they are technically guilty, based on evidence and testimony. What the jury is suggesting or believes, is that the law in general is unfair. The jury will sympathize with the defendant, because they believe that they were treated or charged because of race.
This is a shocking example of racist violence in these times towards coloured voters. The Jim Crow era was an era of struggle, not just for those who suffered violence, cruelty and poverty, but for those who challenged it. Some people simply gave up and moved to the freer Northern states. This led to making conditions for the remaining African- Americans even worse due to fewer voters for pro-black parties. Sometimes they weren’t able to vote for fear of being lynched by racists.