Examples Of Segregation In To Kill A Mockingbird

Are mockingbirds and racism related? In Harper Lee’s bestseller To Kill A Mockingbird they definitely are. In this book, racism and segregation can be found all over. This book is structured around three main ideas, Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and Scottsboro trials. All three of these topics play a large role in the book.

The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were an extremely racist way to keep power away from Blacks and give all control to Whites (Pilgrim). A few examples of Jim Crow laws included the fact Blacks could not attend the same school as Whites. Another example is Blacks were to refer to all Whites as Mr. or Mrs. White people thought they needed these laws because

Mob mentality describes how people are influenced by peers or to act in a certain way within a group. It is also used to refer to unique characteristics that appear when people are in a large group (Smith). People are attracted to large groups and will often follow the behaviors of the majority. When people assemble in a large group, it only takes one act of violence to whip the crowd into a fury (Smith). Others will follow the initial act of violence and begin to destroy property or hurt people (Edmonds). Mob mentality can be seen in To Kill A Mockingbird in many ways. One example of this is seen when a crowd of people suddenly begins rushing in a certain direction, although many people may not know why it is happening, they see the urgency in the group and begin rushing in that direction too. Another example of mob mentality found in the novel is when the townspeople of Maycomb gather at the jail to kill Tom Robinson. Everyone in the group knew that it was against the law, but if they were not the only one doing it, they will not receive the punishment if they did it alone (Lee 186). Not only did the Jim Crow laws influence To Kill A Mockingbird, so did mob

The Scottsboro trials were a series of ridiculous and extremely racist trials that took place in Alabama in the year 1931. The Scottsboro trials were about how nine black teenagers aged 12 through 17 were accused of raping two white women on a train (Anderson). There are many ways to prove that the nine black teens did not rape the two women on the train, the first being that the nine black teens were not even in the same car on the train as the two women (Anderson). Another reason to prove that the nine black teens did not rape the two women is because before the case went to court, one of the women confessed that the nine black teens did not rape them. The Scottsboro trials can be seen in To Kill A Mockingbird in many ways. The Scottsboro trials treated African Americans very unfairly, and the boys were sentenced guilty (Anderson). In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, there was a very similar case, including a black man named Tom Robinson. He was accused of beating Mayella Ewell. She had bruises on the left side of her face, and Tom’s left hand was crippled. After Atticus asked Mr. Ewell to write his name, he used his left hand proving he was the only one that could have hit her on her right side. There are clear references to the Scottsboro trials in To Kill A