Did you know that the Jim Crow laws were named after a character named Jim Crow, who was played by a white man in blackface? This character, in the show “Jump Jim Crow”, made fun of African Americans, and the name Jim Crow was eventually turned into a derogatory term for African Americans. (Jim Crow Laws and Racial Segregation). In the book To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the majority of the people in Maycomb show prejudice towards African Americans. This prejudice was stirred up by the Jim Crow laws, which heavily impacted the daily lives of African Americans and other colored people. While the Jim Crow laws aren’t directly mentioned in the book, the prejudice caused by these laws are very present, and this prejudice is shown in throughout …show more content…
It was much harder to get an education as an African American because of the lack of having an available school near you or schools, or having a school that is sufficient for a proper education. Even if there was a school nearby, it would have less funding so there would be less materials that were of poor quality, not as well-maintained buildings, qualified staff etc. In some areas, African Americans were not allowed to use textbooks with the constitution or Declaration of Independence, so that the students wouldn’t get ideas that would lead them to wanting equality. This lack of an educational foundation made it even harder for African Americans to move up in a society that was already stacked against them, and it was almost impossible to achieve a life like white people. (Boyd, Natalie). This does not go along with the theory of “separate but equal”, but instead made the races more and more divided and …show more content…
While a literacy test, elaborate registration systems, and a poll tax do not appear to be meant to eliminate a race from voting, these factors were designed to exclude colored voters, and it was successful. For example, in Mississippi, fewer than 9,000 of the 147,000 voting- age African Americans were registered after 1890. (Whites Only; Jim Crow in America). The Jim Crow laws also violated the fourteenth amendment. “, Anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen and that “, no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the united States, nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person the equal protection of the law”. “The second section of the amendment said that if a state denies the right to vote to citizens of the United States, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in such states”. This meant that if the South refused to let the Negro vote, it would be punished by a cut in the number of representatives each state had in the House”. (Latham 1969). Though there wasn’t technically a law that African Americans couldn’t vote, there were laws targeted towards
One example inside of the book is how in the courtroom the blacks are in the balcony separate from the whites. Another example of Jim Crow laws inside the books is the separate churches for whites and blacks in the community. Jim
To make voting more difficult for black people, many were required to take a test called a “literacy test.” The literacy tests were given to people who couldn’t prove they had a fifth grade education or higher. If they got one question wrong, they would fail the entire test, and would not be allowed to vote. (Document 6: Louisiana Literacy Test from the 1960s) The questions on the test had complicated instructions written with the intent of making people fail.
During the time of when the book was written about, black people had a much harder life than white people had. In the book black people had nowhere near as much as white people had. For example in the book it stated that in the text it said “ Most colored schools are lucky to see 10 cents of every school
Can one understand how the blacks could still be treated unfairly? In today’s day and age society is fighting for a change to end racism. Harper Lee used real life examples when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the book, Lee referenced Jim Crow, mob mentality, and issues of racism during the time the book was written.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a silent protest to the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws were, and still are, a series of laws that prohibit African-Americans from doing certain things. Many of our Great Grandparents can still remember what they were like, if they liked it or not, which would depend on the person. Some whites would say that the laws were good, but that they should’ve been taken away sooner, or even not at all. This would be completely opposite of what an African-American would say.
So·cial jus·tice, noun, 1. justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. 2."individuality gives way to the struggle for social justice.” (Google Search). Social Justice is a term used to justify the equality in the world; equality of race, equality of gender, equality of religion, of age, of background; equality of all people not dependent on any outside factor, but of the people themselves.
Every sphere of American society and politics is affected by racism, which is ingrained in the heart of the country. To Kill a Mockingbird, a book written by Harper Lee, provides numerous examples of how the justice system fails to protect minorities. One can learn about the injustices that people of color experience in modern society through To Kill a Mockingbird.
The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the
Harper Lee showcases through Tom’s appearances how people of color tackle excessive discrimination from the world. First, Lee makes use of Tom's dark complexion. At the beginning of Chapter 9, Cecil Jacobs insults Atticus for defending Tom, distinctly mentioning he is colored, causing Scout to fight Cecil. Due to this event, Scout questions her father, “Do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus?”(Lee 77). The author uses this example to show us racial concepts, discrimination and prejudice, displayed not only in the society of Maycomb, but in society today as well.
Liberty, equality and justice, were not always rights given to all people born in the United States of America. Throughout the history of this great nation, African Americans have been targeted and denied the ability to exert the rights to vote. Although the denial of these rights is noticeable through our history books, one of the outstanding, and conceals the others rights, this being the right to be equal as there Anglo brothers. The right to vote is one example where blacks were denied the right to exert their freedom. The Voting Right act signed to law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965, provided for a direct federal protection that enabled African Americans to register to vote, and to vote without discrimination on the basis of race, and color.
“I’ve been very mindful that things can change quickly, without warning...” (McCabe 14). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was greatly influenced by The Great Depression. There are many major historical connections to book, including the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality and the Scottsboro trials.
What is education? Some people might say it is knowledge and development, other might say it is the field of study that deals mainly with mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools. To me, education it 's the process of receiving or giving systematic instructions, especially at a school or university. Why were educations for African American children so inferior? One reason was, Southern schools were different from Northern schools because they were segregated.
The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.
How is the racial problem of the southern states of USA in the 1930s portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird? INTRO In the 1930s the Southern states of America suffered from a strong discrimination and racial hatred towards colored people. They had no rights, no respect and were not allowed to go places white people went. In other words they were segregated from the rest of the society.
Racism is a theme that has run through the world during all of history. In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, the main character is a girl named Scout, growing up with her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus, in a racist town in Alabama called Maycomb during the Great Depression and the early 1930s. Atticus is a lawyer and he has to defend a black man named Tom Robinson against the claim he raped Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family has no money or education. He loses the case because of racial prejudices, but he hurts the pride of the Ewell family.