Examples Of Equality In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Equality has been sought after by many Americans who have fought valiantly in order to bring equality within reach. The struggle for equality has been depicted by Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, in the way the characters battle against segregation in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama during the late 1930’s. While combating segregation, characters in the book face many problems that are out of their control, just as Americans do in the fight for equality. America has made many steps towards equality, but has not even come close to it. The persistent struggle for equality is admirable, but unfortunately America will never achieve true racial and social equality, despite the fact that there are equal rights laws.
To begin, segregation …show more content…

In To Kill a Mockingbird, an African American, Tom Robinson, is accused of the rape and assault of a nineteen year old woman, Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson’s lawyer, Atticus Finch, provides a substantial amount of evidence proving that Tom Robinson did not commit the crime of which he was accused, yet he is still found guilty by the jury. During Atticus’ testimony, he speaks to the jury about how the witnesses for the state presented themselves, “in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption-the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women,” which implies that Caucasians are aware of their privileges and will spare no thought at using said privileges with bad intentions, such as using them against an innocent man in order to convict him for a despicable crime that he took no part of (Lee 273). After losing the case, Atticus Finch states, “They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again,” in reference to how the Caucasian jury used their power to convict Tom Robinson, an African American, for a crime in which he did not commit (Lee 285). Caucasians have been granted privileges based solely on their race that they have used, and continue to use, against people of …show more content…

Freedom is an enormous aspect in the daily life of an American, especially with how racially diverse America’s population is. The freedom experienced by Americans has resulted in a society of extreme individuality, but with such uniqueness spurs an onslaught of disagreements. Differences of opinion have resulted in acts of violence and abuse against individuals who do not agree with each other on controversial topics. For instance, in Charlottesville in 2017, protesters marching against white nationalists at a “Unite the Right” rally at the University of Virginia were injured and killed by white supremacists that disagreed with the protester’s cause (“Charlottesville Riot”). The protesters were peacefully expressing their opinion, yet people that disagreed with them felt that violence was the only way to state their opinion. Atrocious acts of violence, such as the situation that occured in Charlottesville, continue to happen across the country, and what most of these devastating situations have in common is that they are brought on by differences of opinion. Even if racial inequality was solved, there would still be differences in American society that would cause disagreements. If racial and social equality was achieved in America, it would