98,395,597….that is how many more whites there were in America than African-Americans - almost 9 times more white people than colored people. Society in the 1930’s was on the verge of crumbling due to the Great Depression, but also because Americans divided themselves by race. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird demonstrates the reach and impact of racism and discrimination in America through the eyes of Maycomb, Alabama. People were discriminated against simply because of the color of their skin. One prominent example of this is the “mixed children” who did not have any outside friends besides other mix children. Jem told Scout that not many people cared about them because, “they don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have ‘em because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em because they’re colored, so they’re just inbetweens” (Lee 215). The children did not have a choice in their skin color, yet they are being labeled as outcasts. …show more content…
The Cunninghams were viewed negatively because they were farmers who did not conform to the same social norms as everyone else. Scout told Aunt Alexandra that she wanted to invite Walter over but Aunt Alexandra declined and “took off her glasses and stared at me. ‘I’ll tell you why,’ she said. ‘Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him” (Lee 301). Walter Cunningham has been to school around maybe 3 times, each time only lasted a day because he had to stay home to work on the farm. Harper Lee uses the Cunninghams to represent the classes of society who were the lowest amongst whites, but were still above colored