Clashes between Mexican-Americans and military personnel continued in the days and weeks to come. The play Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez, underscores the Zoot Suit Riots that occurred historically in Los Angeles during the 1940’s following the infamous trial “The Sleepy Lagoon”. The play follows Henry Reyna, leader of the 38th Street Gang, along with with the gang’s members and Henry’s family, while seeking to combat the racial prejudice of the era. The play dramatizes injustice in order to educate and awaken responses towards acts of injustice that occur in today’s society such as racial profiling, bias judicial system, and bias media (yellow journalism) that are still present in society
Tom, the mixed sheriff’s son in Chestnutt’s, is jailed for accusations of murdering a white man. Outraged by the death of their friend, the townspeople of Branson wanted to see Tom lynched for the murder. “The crowd decided to lynch the Negro. . . .They had some vague notions of the majesty of the law and the rights of the citizen, but in the passion of the moment these sunk into oblivion; a what man had been killed by a Negro.” ( Chestnutt 3).
In a town where everyones views are similar the majority of the towns people show their racists feelings toward Tom Robinson during the course of his trial. To start, shown when Mr. Ewell is testifying. He sheds his views on the trial and how he sees them. To add onto that, testifying in front of the court he states, “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on Mayella” (231).
In the past, racial profiling has been used numerous times by police officers and people who thought races other than white were the cause of every case and problem. They thought they were better because they were white and blamed people of other races for committing crimes by judging everyone based off ethnicity. In the play, Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez, Henry and the 38th Street Gang were accused of crimes they have not committed because they were Mexican- American. Today this is still seen society. The play’s messages was that people who were discriminated because they were not white, which is still relevant today.
Through Zoot Suit, the audience is able to realize that one’s race has a lot to do with the outcomes of their everyday life, which is an issue that America continues to have. Overall, the drama Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez analyzes the injustice of individuals in America due to their race, and the play can allow the audience to understand and see the problem
With the case of Tom Robinson, who is a black man has been accused of raping a young white women, Atticus has helped Tom to defend the false accusation from whites. This case has reflected to another reading’s idea in the class which is Tuch Hughes’s article, Whites’ Racial Policy Attitudes. In the last scene of court of Tom’s case, Tom says he has kissed the white women, because he has sympathy on the white women’s experience from the family abuse. At the end of the court, Tom was found guilty because it is outlawed for blacks to be sympathy to whites. In the other words, Tom has against the white superiority.
Some members of the black church in Maycomb were not very accepting of the Finch children when they attended a service, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here” (184). The blacks in the community knew what it was like to not be trusted by another race because of their skin color, they felt as if they were not members of the society which created distrust within their community. Also, the blacks felt like outliers and not really members of their community, they had their own neighborhood and worked odd jobs that did not make much money, this forced them into a belief that they were less of people and did not trust the whites because of this. Tom who was put on trial as a black against a white young lady knew the amount of distrust the community had for him, “Mr. Finch, if you was a nigger like me, you’d be scared, too” (261). The fact that Tom knew what was happening in the community to be scared of what someone else did to him proves that the distrust in the community was so immense just because of a color.
Recently a trial was run in the Maycomb County courthouse about a negro, Tom Robinson, allegedly raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Mayella’s argument was that Tom Robinson was waiting behind Mayella in her house when she turned around and Tom choked her and “took advantage of [her]”. Tom Robinson’s argument is that he came into Mayella’s home to help her out with some tasks because he felt sorry for the way she had to live. One day, when he was finishing one task Mayella hugged Tom around the waist and kissed him on the side of his face. Atticus Finch has made the surprising decision to defend the black negro named Tom Robinson despite the convincing evidence Mayella has given.
The first connection to America’s actual history is the presence of the Jim Crow laws in the book. Jim Crow laws are never assert or even intimate that a White person is lying. Never impute dishonorable intentions to a White person. Never curse a White person. Never comment upon the appearance of a White female.
Throughout the novel, we can see the discrimination towards the black race by the
Cultural diversity is also called multiculturalism. It is having a heart and mind that acknowledges, accepts values and celebrates different ways via which people live and interact all over the world. Now what is discrimination? Is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. In 1920-1945 America showed so much discrimination toward many cultures African American, Japanese American and Hispanic American.
A specific quote from the book that gives an example about race is “In our courts, when it’s a white man's word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (pg 295). This quote explains that at the time a black man never wins against a white man.
Through Atticus, the author presents an argument for equality and racial tolerance. All black people were categorised in this era; they were seen as aggressive, untrustworthy and inhuman. This is completely different
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(Lee 30). These are the words of Atticus Finch, the wisest character in the famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a fictional man that embodies human traits that all people should strive to emulate. In the novel; narrated by Atticus’ daughter Jean Louise Finch, more often referred to as Scout; Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. The main message of the text is the prominence of racial injustice, specifically in the 1930’s, the era the novel takes place in.
If someone back then were to break a law about lets say for an example if a white lets a black drink out of the same water fountain as them and if someone found out it would cost them. This shows how race's were back then compared to know. This second claim will state another way we see racism in the 1930's. In chapter 14 "They c'n go loose and rape up the countryside for all of ‘em who runs this country care". This is racist because it is saying that blacks are the only people who rape white’s which is so not true.
