In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, in a court trial. The town of Maycomb turns against him due to this. Atticus, furious about the reaction from his town, explains, “…why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand” (Lee 88). Atticus does not have any racial biases, and he does not agree with the views of the majority of the people of Maycomb. Atticus, describing his beliefs to Jem, “…The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be
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
Jem and Scout stats to become aware that all this is caused by segregation. Since Atticus is defending Tom Robinson in court Mrs. Dubose starts to insult Atticus for ‘lawing for *******’ which infuriates both of his children. [Theme: The injustice of racism and segregation] 2. “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they treid. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white always wins.
They were dehumanized if they stepped out of line “My husband cousin... they took her tongue out for talking to the clan... You think they gone take our tongues? For talking to you?” (Stockett, 301)- Winnie (A black maid). Black people were denied the right to speak their mind or else they would be tortured or killed. They had to write the novel in secrecy in fear that they would get caught and killed. All the rights of a human being were denied to the black society in which freedom of speech and freedom in society were not
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
In the eyes of white supremacy it would be a negative, but in the eyes of the black race it meant a man who refused to obey the orders to beat other slaves and go against the racist norms. Which is exactly what he did when he took a strong stand on racism was in 1957, when he condemned President Eisenhower and Alabama Governor Faubus for the way blacks were being treated in the South. Saying that “the way that they are treating my people in the south, the government can go to hell,” and when they threatened him that he would be sent over to the Soviet Union, Armstrong laughed and simply said “the people over there ask me what’s wrong with m country, what am I suppose to say?” His statements may have prompted Eisenhower to take action in a desegregation case, because soon after Armstrong made them, he ordered blacks to be admitted to Little Rock’s Central High School, which prompted a congratulatory telegram to the President from Armstrong. This was one of the few times that a black man spoke out for what he believed in to the white man and got away with it. Especially calling out such people in
The lack of knowledge in Maycomb about the outside world and their opinions about black people ingrains ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’ into their minds as they have no other opinions about black people. This is shown by the crowd’s outrage as they gather to lynch Tom, not knowing that he was innocent, but blinded by ... ... middle of paper ... ...sirable traits to have as they can motivate you through the toughest tasks and drive you to do what should be done instead of abandon your duties. In conclusion, Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird highlights the horrible prejudice and ignorance towards black people in the southern town of Maycomb, but also shows wisdom and compassion as not only desirable but necessary traits to have to withstand the bombardment of pre-conceived ideas from the people surrounding you, and also portrays these qualities as a shield to people around
Harper Lee uses the character Tom Robinson as character to use as an example to show how bad racism was back in the 1930’s. Tom Robinson was a black man accused of rape. It was common for people to be racist and use racist slang words back then. One example of racism Harper Lee uses is when Scout is talking to Francis and he called Atticus a “nigger-lover” (chapter: 9 page: 110) The reason being called a “nigger-lover” is racist because nigger was a racist way to refer to a black person back then. During slavery people would, called black people niggers rather than black people and they did not treat
These people that label their selves as “nigga” but if a person who is not of color is to use it we are racist. Isn’t that a double standard? How is it ok for you to say it but we are not allowed without being called a word that a lot of people overlook….Racism will always exist until people of color stop killing each other. I read an article called “salute to all gangbangers” written by a black man about black on black crime. Everyone in the south was in an uproar because they thought the KKK had written it.
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