Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

“If the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” (Justice Henry Brown of Michigan) This sentence was the stated reason on why separate but equal was confirmed as constitutional. This verdict, especially where it states, “If one race is inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” essentially allows racism to continue. It almost promotes this prejudice because the US Constitution cannot stop inferiority and discrimination. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows many examples of

Harper gives us a very clear representation of how prejudice thrives in society, but where did it come from? How does prejudice relate to human nature? Prejudice is taught, it is not something that we as human beings are born with. Youth is very important when developing prejudice. If someone is taught something at a very young age, they are very likely to believe in that thing very strongly throughout their lives. For example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, at the main character Scout’s school there are many very racist kids. These kid’s parents clearly didn’t approve of Atticus defending Tom Robinson in court, and spread it to their kids. “Lemme tell you somethin’ now, Billy, the court appointed him to defend this n-word.” (Lee, 186) These kids will then go on to have these same beliefs, and teach the same stuff to their kids. Prejudice will never end because it keeps going in cycles. If we as humans were racist and prejudiced people without learning it, then Scout and Jem would also have this prejudice, which they do not, because Atticus has not taught them it. Prejudice can make people do evil things, human beings are not naturally

The two white people are both very racist, see Tom as inferior to them in almost every way. The charge in the case is rape, with Bob Ewell claiming that Tom Robinson raped his daughter Mayella. The truth is, Bob Ewell beat his daughter, and only accused Tom of this to make an excuse for the bruises on his daughter’s face. Tom, being at a massive disadvantage, lost the case and was sent to the county prison, where apparently he tried to escape, but was shot while trying. “They said if he’d had two good arms he’d made it, he was moving that fast. Seventeen bullet holes in him.” (Lee, 268) It would have been acceptable to have shot Tom to get him off the wall, but to shoot to kill him, and seventeen times? That is too much to be considered justified. This was the fault of evil created by prejudice taught by the public image of a man. Prejudice is not part of human nature, because there are many human beings that do not have prejudice. For example, the Finch family. Scout and Jem originally were prejudiced against the Radleys. They would make fun of them and play games mocking