Thus the racist social values of Maycomb County are responsible for the failure of Atticus Finch’s defense for Tom Robinson. When hate and racism start controlling people, that hate will be factored into each decision they make in life. For example, defending someone who is guilty and criticizing someone who is innocent. As a result of hate and racism controlling the witnesses of the trial, they are another factor that cause Atticus’ defense to fail. There are several characters involved in the justice system of Maycomb County.
For it is a natural human instinct to stereotype. For centuries, we have been stereotyping different races such as the blacks. The whites used to see them as evil doers, but now we realize that it is not true. In the book, Tom Robinson was killed because he was stereotyped. If he had an impartial jury, he would have been a free man.
Monday, June, 18, 2012 "To Kill A Mockingbird" The Injustices of Racism The novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" written by Harper Lee is about the life of a family living in a small town in Alabama. In the 1930s a person could be hated, outlawed and wanted dead because of the colour of their skin. The main topic is injustice. First Tom Robinson is wrongly accused and convicted because he is a black man, then Atticus, Scout and Jem are made fun of and gossiped about by the town. Next the mixed children are completely alone and ignored because of their background.
His intention,was noble and honorable yet it was overlooked as a result of racial discrimination “I felt sorry for her... You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?" (Page 200 Tom Robinson, Mr. Gilmer). A black man feeling sorry for a white woman was found to be contemptible. As Mr. Gilmer implies how can a Negro feel empathy for a white woman who is much higher above his class in the social hierachy? Mr. Gilmer
Richard’s grandmother was always excessively beating him. From the beginning, Richard would not subdue himself to the white man like the other black people around. The white people knew that he was different from other black men. Whites were scared because Richard challenged the system that they had created to insure white supremacy. They feared Richard, and some of the white people felt it necessary to act out their racist feelings in order to cover up their fear.
Also, ‘The Black Panthers’ were a very violent group and saw King’s campaign as time consuming and feared it being forgotten in the process. The group called for a revolutionary war against authority, but it never happened and there are many conspiracy theories as to why the group ended. King was later assassinated at his hotel, showing that his race was still not equal, and some people still looked down on African Americans and didn’t like the change. Although all of these activists had the same idea and values, they had very different ideas of how to achieve their ideal society. Doctor King, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers all contributed to the major changes of society’s attitudes towards the African American people by targeting very different audiences in society.
He is almost completely shunned from the town because he is trying to help a black man accused of rape. Mayella had told Tom, “I said come here, nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me, I gotta nickel for you.” (p.241) She had tricked him to coming over to her. Then that’s about the time when she accuses him of rape. He had felt sorry for her, which is why he was falsely accused in the first place. Courthouse segregation was one of the biggest bits of racism I found in this book.
In “My First Conk”, Malcolm X assured that black people were being brainwashed to believe that they actually were inferior to white people, thus they conked their hair; which was a hair straightener gel made from lye popular among African-American men from the 1920s to the 1960s. They were, essentially, giving up what they were fighting for as far as civil rights- the right to be who they were and also be accepted by society. Therefore, the conking of their hair was hypocrisy and a contradiction of morals and values. Blind conformity caused them to disregard their strongest beliefs which should be the most powerful driving forces in all lives. Especially in today's society, there is a dire over emphasis of the media.
Rather than being a judge of his people, he was merely a citizen complaining about social injustices in his country. Paton’s condescending tone when speaking about the white people’s unfairness towards the blacks adds to his argumentative diction. For instance, Arthur writes, “We shift our ground again…and feel deep pity for a man who is condemned to the loneliness of being remarkable.” The words “deep pity” and “loneliness” contrast “remarkable”. When something is remarkable it is held in high esteem. The white people’s view of a black man was so low that even if he was more successful than one of them, he’d still be at the bottom of society.
That in turn scares people because of the fact that someone might reveal that Caucasians believed that they were the superior race and the belief in "White Supremacy, African inferiority." In history Africans have been mistreated all through history, so I still think that white are dominating now but the minorities are taking over slowly but surely. This novel attacks reality from different points of view and in the process shows that Africans put up with the treatment because they think they lost the battle. It could have been used as a form of prevent discrimination