Calpurnia Racism Quotes

To Kill a Mockingbird The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is set to place in the 1930’s, right in the middle of the Great Depression. During the time period, there was great prejudice, which is shown greatly in the courtroom with Tom Robinson. A scene in the movie shows Calpurnia sitting in the backseat of a car while Atticus is driving and the passenger seat is available for her to sit. Even though the passenger side is available Calpurnia chooses to sit in the back seat. Atticus does not tell her to sit in the back but he does not offer her the front either. Some people believe that this is considered an act of racism, however, it seems to just be an act that occurs naturally to them. People during this time period did not believe

She believes that the way they act is a result from Calpurnia being such a major part of their life. Alexandra tries to tell Scout that she is not allowed to go to Calpurnia’s house, Scout quickly objects saying how she asked Atticus, not Alexandra. Atticus scolds Scout telling her she has to listen to both Alexandra and Calpurnia, but later in private politely talks to Alexandra about how he believes Calpurnia should be in the kids lives. He is polite and calm, setting down a rule while still respecting Alexandra, even if he does not believe what she is saying (Lee 106). His politeness shows that he is not racist, he is a very understanding person, not someone that would put someone in a backseat to be

Atticus easily could have tried to blow the case by not trying to set Tom Robinson free, instead, he tries to his fullest to make sure Tom sees the free world again. Atticus brings up many valid points that prove Tom’s innocence, the biggest one being how Tom is unable to use his left hand, which should have won the case. Except, Tom says he feels sorry for the girl that he supposedly “raped,” this is where they lost the case. It is considered wrong for a black man to feel sorry for white women. Why would he feel sorry for her, she has it so much better than he does. Even when Atticus realizes they lost the case he still goes out of his way to try and prove Tom’s innocence. Most people would have given up when they saw they lost, some would not have even made it through the beginning of the case, but, Atticus put in the time and effort that was needed for him to attempt to prove Tom’s innocence. Why would he put in so much effort for a black man but still show racism towards someone that he considers