As our country has becomes more desegregated, we learn more and more about equality, no matter what your skin color. In the movie, To Kill Mockingbird, bigotry is a huge factor that affects many lives. While watching the movie, I began to wonder how the outcome of the story would have been different had one character’s skin color been white. The movie starts off with narrator talking about a knowledgeable story from when she was little. Her father Atticus, a lawyer, had a choice to defend a black man, Tom Robison, who was being accused of raping and beating up a young white women.
The guard’s name is Paul, and the prisoner is John Coffey. John is a falsely accused black man who has a spiritual ability allowing him to heal the wounded and the sick. He was wrongfully convicted of the brutal murder of nine-year-old twin sisters, after being found holding their dead bodies. Almost eight feet tall, with large enough hands to pick up a basketball from the top, easily larger than anyone else in the entire story, his appearance shows him to be physically capable of harming anyone he pleases. However, his personality is completely opposite of that assumption.
They were nine african american teens arrested for crimes they didn't commit. Having to go to court with poor representatives, biased juries, and a little bit of evidence led to the nine boys being sentenced to death. (Other half of paragraph missing) Harper Lee's purpose and perspective in writing To Kill a Mockingbird, was to illustrate to the reader the severity of the racial issues in the south during the 1930's. She wanted to show that white people are just as bad as colored people. Tom Robinson's trial
The author says it makes him feel uncomfortable. Staples says he was mistaken for a burglar and a thief because of his race. Staples also explains a time when his friend a fellow journalist was mistaken for a killer when his friend was just reporting the murder. Staples believes it was because his friend is black. Staples sees himself as a young educated black man staples states he was "one of the good ol boys” being only in a few fist fights.
"As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it-whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash." (220) Atticus says. As opposed to most of the points of view of the other Maycomb residents, he stresses the fact that all men are created equal. To Kill a Mockingbird also tells the theme of a hero’s journey. That hero is Atticus, who fights for racial justice.
Malcolm X, one of the most powerful leaders of black America during the 1960s. He was a street hustler convicted of robbery that made him spent seven years in prison. He became frustrated at not being to express himself in letter, and he wanted to be as knowledgeable as his fellow inmate, Bimbi who had always taken charge of any conversations, therefore he started to educate himself by copying the whole dictionary. Malcolm X learnt of people, places and events from history, especially the history of the white and the black. He wrote about how bad were the white and the way they humiliated the non-white group.
Caroline Reinicke Professor Swart English 101 October 11th 2012 The Consequences of Racial Stereotyping In Brent Staples Essay “Just Walk on by: Black Men and Public Spaces” He talks about being mistaken for a robber, rapist or almost any type of criminal. He talks about all the consequences that have come upon him because people racial stereotyping him. He tells us about several occasions where he was just going about his everyday life when people thought that he was a criminal, judging him based only on his skin color. Even though he’s not a criminal Staples tells us that he knows a lot of black men, like himself, are and that he’s seen them locked away and even helped bury some. At the end of his Essay we see how he has changed many things about himself for the benefit of other people.
Atticus Finch, without much support from the others in Maycomb, shows his heroism when he tackles the racism in Maycomb alone. First, the racism in Maycomb is shown through several of the events that happens in the book, then Atticus Finch, gets appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black person who is accused of raping a white girl, the verdict of the trial is obvious, but through what Atticus does for the trial, even without anyone’s help, Atticus shows his brave, heroic character when he challenges racism in Maycomb despite all the difficulties he has to overcome. The novel, To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic book which shows the racism against the black population in the 1930s in America through a criminal trial in which a black
One way Atticus displays courage is in his choice to defend Tom Robinson. To Kill a Mockingbird revolves primarily around a court case in which Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. When the judge appoints Atticus as Tom’s lawyer, Atticus actually tries to defend Tom, knowing full well that the case was already lost. He becomes disliked by many in Maycomb for choosing to defend a black man, yet he continues to provide Tom with his full support and legal counsel. He does all this just because he believes that “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow.” This shows the
He also talks about how some white brothers have joined them in their revolution and the punishments they are receiving because they care. “They have languished in filthy, roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as ‘dirty nigger-lovers’” (63). Compassion is a virtue that everyone shares, and having white people being punished for helping Negroes shows that these injustices aren’t just toward Negroes; by saying this King can appeal to his readers more to him by telling them that this is happening to people just like