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The Negative Effects Of Individual Racism

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Dr. Dashonne Stokes, a civil rights activist said “What matters most is not 'what ' you are, but 'who ' you are.” Dr. Dashine Stokes is saying that skin color does not matter it’s who you are as a person that matters. In to kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee there are two types of racism: Individual and Institutional, Individual racism is based on personal beliefs of one person. Institutional racism is government or large groups with racist beliefs. Institutional racism is more harmful than Individual racism. While some people may say individual racism is more harmful because it has a more negative effect on children, Institutional racism is more harmful because groups are much more dangerous than one person.

One could argue that individual racism is more harmful because it has a negative influence on kids. Individual racism is more harmful because it sets a bad example for kids and it is more common in everyday life. One day after the trial, “Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell …show more content…

Institutional racism is more dangerous because it has a greater effect on society. In chapter 21 Right after the jury comes out and Judge Taylor reads the verdict Judge Taylor says, “Guilty... Guilty...Guilty...Guilty…” (Lee 282) Tom was found guilty because of his race, This has a more negative effect on society because Tom was an innocent man that was put in jail because of the racist court system. Next, In chapter 15 after Tom is put in jail Bob Ewell and the lynch mob try to kill Tom because he is a black man even though Tom is innocent. Bob Ewell says, “You know what we want,” Another man said “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch” (Lee 202) The lynch mob wanted to kill Tom because he is black, This is more dangerous to society because a group or institution is more powerful because they have more people so they can do more damage to society. In conclusion, Institutional racism is more harmful because groups and institutions can do more damage to society than one

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To Kill a Mockingbird is famous for its controversy. In fact, it has been banned from being read at many schools for its use of racial, sexual, and political content, all of these aiding the book’s “big ideas”. To Kill a Mockingbird has many themes. For example, one is about racial injustice. You would think a jury would establish their final decision based upon the facts, but in this book, the jury had already made up its mind once it heard that the case was a white man versus a black man.

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The book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is convincing the reader that racism is wrong and needs to have an end put to it because innocent men and women are having injustice because people are not blind to their skin tone. Even though while reading the book the reader can tell the real truth behind the trail, that Mayella was actually in love with Tom Robinson and her father did not approve. The jurors did not see that because all they paid attention to was the man’s skin tone and not the facts. This is showing the reader that because of racism justice is not being severed. The book is trying to persuade the reader that racism is not right and we cannot judge someone based upon the color of their

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Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

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These same events happening in the novel are unfortunately events that happen in today’s society. When Tom is wrongfully convicted in the novel based on the color of his skin, I compare this to the rising number of black males that are proven innocent and getting released from prison after their original guilty verdict. With advances in the DNA system, the number of murderers being proven innocent has risen, many black males have been able to walk free because of this fact. This statement means one thing, racially biased convictions. These black men, much like Tom, were wrongfully convicted, and I feel that race had something to do with this.

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Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and

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The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written in 1960 by Harper Lee in the point of view of a young innocent girl named Scout. One of the main messages that Lee has (need a new word than – indicated or set out) is racism, it plays an important role which strongly impacts many character’s lives unfairly and changes the relationship between two. Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” shows that it is wrong to hurt someone who does no harm to you, for example, black people are innocent but no way did they have as many rights as white people did. Black people lived hard lives because society was judgemental, irrational and most importantly, racist. As Scout and Jem grow older they learn to cope, take responsibility and are introduced to new aspects of life, one of which is racism.

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“Now don’t you be so confident, Mr. Jem, I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…” (Lee 179). This quote from Reverend Sykes in To Kill a Mockingbird is a sort of summary of how and why Tom Robinson was wrongly convicted guilty. It also gives a lot of insight on race relations in this time period. Unfortunately, racism has yet to leave society.

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In the book Atticus and the members of the court system express the reach of prejudice, justice, and fairness in the justice system. The justice system was filled with prejudice. In the book it states, “ Now don 't you be so confident, Mr. Jem I ain 't ever seen a jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”(279). Reverend Sykes is witnessing the trial of Tom Robinson.

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Finally, as the book comes to conclusion Tom Robinson, a black man, is pleaded quilty with the charge of raping a white women. Throughout the novel, it was proven all he was trying to do and aiming for was to help a young girl. People in society gain the evil assumption that all black men and women aren 't equal to those of a different race. A part in the novel that proves how intolerable the society is; on page 242, "A white man 's word, against a black man 's word, the white man always wins" (Lee). This quote shows how the main reason Tom was guilty was due to the color of his skin.

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After the prosecutor’s witnesses have spoken and testified, the defense attorney, in the case, Atticus’s witness, Tom Robinson, goes up to the witness chair to testify. Atticus asks him a number of questions, and when Tom gets asked “Why were you scared?” his reply is “Mr. Finch, if you was a n*gger like me, you’d be scared, too.” Tom’s reason to be scared was simply that he’s black, which proves that the racism runs more than a layer thin, as a few words here or there would not make a person fear for their life simply because of the color of their skin. The racism threatens the lives of the blacks every day and every action that they make, for fear that they will be killed for stepping outside the line.

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This behaviour is deemed as natural, and few people question the roles put in place, this is truly terrifying so we are lead to wonder if what we accept as normal is perhaps corrupt instead. Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In Chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it 's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, 295).

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This example clearly shows the theme of “marginalisation and how it effects a person”, because it shows how one person (Tom Robinsons) is being convicted because they are different and he has no power in society. The jury that convicted Tom Robinson is made up of white Europeans that hold the supreme power in society because of the colour of their skin. In this scenario, they are considered the “main stream”. To add to this it also shows how it the marginalization has had an impact on Tom Robinson’s life through by him being shot for something he didn’t do. The children of Atticus also take note of how Tom was wrongfully convicted.

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