Racism has always been a problem in this world and in the United States. When I think of racism in the States the first thing that comes to mind is the mistreatment of blacks by whites. Through all of the history classes I have taken in my life I have learned about slavery, segregation, and the Jim Crow laws among other things, all of which were practiced and enforced by white people in America. Perhaps it is this perception of America’s past that has caused many to ignorantly believe that only white people are capable of racism. This could not be further from the truth.
When Tom was accused of rape, this was the most racist point in the book to me. The people of Maycomb automatically labeled him as guilty. If I were in his position I would have wanted to fight back. Atticus Finch, a local lawyer and one of the main characters, is appointed as Tom’s lawyer. He is almost completely shunned from the town because he is trying to help a black man accused of rape.
Most of the people of Maycomb were unjust and ignorant when it came to the most basic rights of the African Americans. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy,…Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit them, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Page 98 Atticus) This citation is the focal point of the novel. Tom Robinson, a black man who did no wrong, as all evidence proved yet he was still found guilty. Atticus Finch was one of a few who believed in ‘justice for all’. Atticus was mocked and shunned for defending a black man yet he never retaliated.
Discrimination Discrimination, surely everyone has heard of it, but in To Kill a Mockingbird, everyone somehow experiences it. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's during the Great Depression. This, of course, is a fictional place, but the discrimination we see here is a reflection of what happened in the South during the 1930's. There are various forms of discrimination in this book some examples of these are racial, religious, age and gender discrimination. Racial discrimination was very prevalent during the 1930's especially in the South.
If he had an impartial jury, he would have been a free man. However, none of the jurors believed that Tom was telling the truth. They were raised to hate all black people. White people have been hurting and killing black people for centuries because of hatred. Therefore, the black community in Maycomb was crippled with fear.
This movie reveals a sign of regress of our society because, most lynching incidents in America which occurred in public spaces and were usually the result of rape allegations involving black male supposedly assailants and white women who were purportedly their victims has not been seeing as a pure act of cruelty and hated from white supremacist calling for “justice”. A proof of this is that today, the noose appears in secluded areas such as school grounds and workplaces (Hyde Turner tragedy at work Conrald, Texas) as a result of racial tension in the U.S. Years after the Civil Right Movement, the battle for respect among all people regardless of the color of their skins and the end of racist organization or movement is far from over. A change has been operated but it is not enough to prevent such actions in the first democratic country of the world. In my opinion, the fact CNN host Kyra Phillips emphasize the importance that “youth people understand the horrors of the noose.” shows that American youth today are more sensitive about racial violence than previous generations of Americans. The essential reasons is because these major racial acts of violence occurred in the past so we should now be able to look at it from a clear, reasonably coherent and tolerant point of view in order to make these events stop.
It is quite obvious that Robinson was not guilty, but he is still convicted anyway. Many racist actions lead up to the trial, actually encompass the trial, and these same actions are seen after the trial. She is racist enough to think that because Atticus is defending an African American, someone that he thinks is not guilty; it will harm her deep southern roots. This skirmish
Throughout the years racism has been a common problem and is happening all around us. In earlier times black people were used as slaves and did have little to no rights at all, but now discrimination between blacks and whites is illeagal and we are all supposed to have equal rights. Although the discrimination is illeagal it has happened in the judical system in the past that juries and other people have made their decision based on the defendants race. Like in the case of Tom Robinson from the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” and in the case of Stephen Lawrence the verdict seems to have been based mainly on their colors. So that leads me thinking if people of all races will ever be equal in the justice system and to the rest of the world.
Discrimination based on socioeconomic status involves judging someone by the “individual’s or group's position within a hierarchical social structure. Socioeconomic status depends on a combination of variables, including occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence.” To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates how discrimination has always been here, and always will be. Racism is the most obvious form of discrimination represented in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The main character is a six year old girl named Scout Finch. Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer for Maycomb County, Alabama.
He has to deal with the most frightening nature of the justice system facing the death penalty. There is a sense of judgment from the courtroom that because Steve is young and black, he is likely to have committed the crime in the eyes of the jurors because he has been arrested, and he must have done it because the police and the prosecution witnesses wouldn’t lie. In addition to this, Steve becomes very timid while filled with despair knowing that he has been accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He states early in the novel, “Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie.