Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

Through the past few decades alone we have seen plenty of examples of discrimination in society and in the American Justice System. The world has seen how police have murdered many black people in cold blood and have gotten away with minimal punishment despite their horrific actions. It is vital that we take these lessons to ensure a better world for victims of racial discrimination in America. Note examples such as the Central Park 5. A group of young black men who were falsely accused and incarcerated for rape and sexual assault by two white women. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, this is exemplified through the trial of 25 year old Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of raping 19 year old Mayella Ewell, which inevitably lead

This applies to the judicial system which is a human-run institution. It’s loopholes allow people to falsely incarcerate others that they may not like based off of something such as race. In To Kill a Mockingbird Mayella Ewell is caught kissing Tom Robinson without his consent. Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella, catches Tom and Mayella and becomes infuriated with Tom and Mayella. Bob had already expressed his anger towards Tom before and this was the final straw. He takes Tom to court in the majority white town of Maycomb, Alabama. In the closing speech of the trial, Atticus the defendant’s lawyer, declares “But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal—there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.”(Lee 274). In this closing speech Atticus reminds the jury that despite the fact that they are still normal people, they still hold power over Tom Robinson's life and if he keeps

They think that the racism that is described only occurs during the arrest and does not carry on through the person’s trial. This viewpoint is expressed by author John Perazzo in his article “There Is No Evidence of Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System”. Perazzo expresses “there is no evidence of racial discrimination at any of these decision points. Black overrepresentation is almost entirely at the arrest stage—reflecting the simple fact that the "average" black breaks the law more frequently than the "average" white.” In this statement, Perazzo fails to mention that according to the FBI’s crime statistics from 2013, the same year he wrote this article, white people made up 68.9% of criminal arrests while black people only made up 28.3% of arrests in 2013. In addition, Perazzo holds no proof that the only racism faced is during the arrest which is simply untrue. The jury makes the final call, but a human jury cannot go without bias. If a jury member was robbed by a black person before, they are more likely to not believe the black defendant even if they were