Atticus Finch Discrimination

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, against all odds, chooses to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Mr. Ewell’s white daughter. During the 1930s, when the story took place, Tom’s hometown Maycomb was very racist and segregated. Negroes were considered inferior to all white people, making it difficult for Atticus to support Mr. Robinson against the “superior”Mr. Ewell. In an effort to explain to Scout, Atticus’s daughter, why he is choosing to help Mr. Robinson, Atticus remarks, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason not to try to win” (Lee 101). Atticus knew he wouldn’t win the case because of Tom’s skin color, but he also realized that he has to take a stand in order to cause changes in society. Furthermore, Atticus goes on to explain that the main reason he is defending Tom is “if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 100). With his high set of morals that he is attempting to pass on to his

Atticus decided to take Tom’s case, realizing that if Negroes are ever going to be granted equal rights, small steps have to be taken. Even though Atticus risked his own safety and his children’s safety in the process, he was able to start a chain reaction across Maycomb County, with multiple people supporting Tom in different ways.Additionally, seeing Atticus defend a black man against a white man was ultimately the reason why Jem and Scout never caught “Maycomb’s usual disease”, racism. Ensuring that they wouldn’t consider Negroes inferior to themselves was definitely worth the danger they were put in. While some might argue that the outcome did not justify the risks, it is clear that Atticus made the right decision in taking Tom’s case, as it payed off after all was said and