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Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

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St. Andrew School Luciana Rupprecht 3-31-23 The Obsession with Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is about a little girl who’s name is Scout and her older brother Jem. The novel is set in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. While the children experience different events and adventures, the main complication is a court case. The jury has to decide if Tom Robinson, a black man, raped Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Atticus has to defend Tom, and he doesn’t receive a good reaction. During the novel there are many examples of racism. Some of the repetitive examples of racism is when Atticus is put to shame and called a “negro-lover”, Tom Robinson is show disrespect by Mr. Gilmer during the trial, and finally, the hypocrisy the missionary circle displays during their weeting. What is the perfect parent? One that shows the right way to act and treat someone? …show more content…

The case was about if Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell or not. As expected they did not treat Tom with the utmost respect. “Robinson, you’re pretty good at busting up chifferobe and kindling with one hand, aren’t you?”(Lee 223). Mr. Gilmer is extremely rude to poor Tom, and does not respect him. Back in the 1930s, a person could show respect to someone by referring to them as sir or ma’am. Mr. Gilmer calls him Robinson and later in the chapter refers to Tom as “boy”. Not only is he referred to as “Boy”, he is also accused of a crime he did not do. He never raped Mayella, it was her that wanted to kiss a black man. The verdict of the trial truly shows the extremities of racism. Even though Atticus has concrete evidence that Tom is innocent, the jury still accuses him as guilty. The only reason why they did this was, not because they have evidence that he perpetrated this evil act, but because he was black. In the words of Atticus, the courtroom is the place where everyone is equal to each

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The jury’s verdict for the Tom Robinson trial was guilty. The reasons why the verdict was guilty, is simply because they were racist. They all heard clear evidence on how Tom was guilty from Atticus, but if anyone on the jury were to disagree that a black man was innocent, they would have been shamed by the whole county. This case is based off of the real world trial involving the 9 black boys who were accused of raping 2 white women on a train, in Scottsboro. These boys were ranged from 13 to 20 years old, and everyone was put on death row, except the minor who got life in prison.

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A critical event in the book is when Atticus accepts to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell; however, he is disfavored against by the town due to his race. In the book, Atticus says, “...The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you did--I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’...” (Lee 117).

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The author’s name: Ana Swanson. The name of the text: “Many parents will say kids made them happier. They’re probably lying.”

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