The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place around a time when tensions existed between African Americans and Whites. Throughout the novel, readers can learn about the relationships between Whites and African Americans and the prejudices that occurred in society. To Kill A Mockingbird presents the argument that not everyone is considered equal in society.
In the novel, an African American man named Tom Robinson was accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. After his trial, the jury found him guilty of the crime even though there was not “one iota of medical evidence (203).” Society viewed Tom as lower than the Ewells, so they concluded that the Ewells side of the story was correct without even considering Tom’s account of what happened. The Ewells brought this case to court since they had “the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted (204)” because of society’s stereotypical views towards African Americans.
Equality in society can also be measured by the amount of respect given to each member. In this manner Boo Radley was not equal in society. Although most residents of Maycomb never had a verbal conversation with Radley, they still disrespected his
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Inequality has occurred throughout history and still continues to exist today. This can be displayed when slavery had ended in the United States. Even after the end of slavery, African Americans were discriminated against based on the prejudiced views of society. Separate public facilities were established for African Americans and Whites, as society did not deem it appropriate for Whites to socialize with the inferior African Americans. Although major reforms have expanded the rights of African Americans, biases continue to exist in society which prevent them from being considered as equal to this day. Recent statistics show that Africans American are imprisoned at six times the rate of