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Racial discrimination in america
Racial discrimination in america
Racism In American Literature
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Have you ever experienced a situation that involved racism? Maybe someone of a different race was treated unfairly or made fun of because they were of a different color. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, racism is a recurring theme because it dominates most of the events that take place in the novel. The book is a view of life in the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's. To Kill A Mockingbird is told through the eyes of Scout Finch.
ScOUT of the Box: Analyzing Social Injustices in TKAM “What’s the worst possible thing you can call a woman? Don’t hold back, now. You’re probably thinking of words like slut, whore, b***h, c**t (I told you not to hold back!), sk*nk. Okay, now, what are the worst things you can call a guy?
“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.
Disease of Prejudice Maycomb 's usual desease is the desease of prejudice. Prejudice can be defined in many ways, one definition is law verb: Harm or injury that result or may result from some action or judgment. Another is verb law: Cause harm to (a state of affairs), with these definitions I would say the noun makes perfect since because everyone is racist (judgement of color). In this state of confusion of the case black verse white Atticus hope 's that Jem and Scout never turn out to have Mayconmb 's usual desease of prejudice. As Mayconmb is full of prejudice against African Americans the case has made life for Atticus, Jem, and Scout a little more observant.
Race has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.
Social injustice is one of the most prevalent themes that occurred in Harper Lee’s To kill a mockingbird. Her writing exposes some of the things that were occurring in our culture in the south during the mid nineteen hundreds in the American south. Social injustice referred to the unfair treatment of people of color, and those who did not have money or education. These things were not just part of the novel, they actually happened in real life and were not just made up fantasies by Lee. Before I get into what the main focus of the essay is about, I must introduce and elaborate on what exactly I will be referring to during this paper.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the African Americans ' position in American society was declining and explored the most dramatic events in civil rights history which occurred in Alabama. Civil rights movement struggled by African-Americans to achieve civil rights ' equal with whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing and education "It shall be unlawful for a negro and white people to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers. " (Meier xxiv). Furthermore, Lee examines in her novel the idea of racial of segregation. As time went on the skin color of a person becomes significant, blacks and whites went to separate school, separate church and hospital;
In To Kill a Mockingbird there are lots of racial, gender, and religious, discrimination. Which is shown a multiple amount of times throughout the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee which takes place in Maycomb Alabama, where there is a lot of racial discrimination. But there is also some gender, and religious, discrimination.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The author Lee demonstrates some major themes such as social inequality, intolerance, education, legal justice and bravery through this character. The title To Kill a Mockingbird symbolises innocence where Lee explores this through the eyes of Jem and Scout who are kids of Atticus Finch. He is one of the most honest, patient, kind, fair, respected and admired men in Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus is known for his moral character throughout the book.
What if the world was still the same as it was back during the great depression. What if this was the truth. In To Kill a Mockingbird readers can see how prejudice affected people of color back then, and how it’s not so different from today. In the novel readers will find unfairness in court, hate crimes, and segregation. Today readers can still find these same issues, but in different forms.
Discrimination has a lot of layers including racism, gender roles, and class that cause minorities to get held back and criticized by society. The fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, takes place in a small Southern town in the U.S during the 1930’s. The 1930’s was a time filled with discrimination caused by the economic tension of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, the characters such as Scout Finch, the Cunningham family, and Tom Robinson all endure discrimination whether it is for their gender, their race, or even for their social class. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee proves that discrimination, throughout the 1930’s, such as class, gender stereotypes, and racism, lead to the downfalls of characters.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, undoubtedly there is more than one type of discrimination displayed. Before we get into that, what exactly is discrimination? Well, to discriminate means to treat someone differently based on what they believe, their age, gender, who they love, even their appearance. The forms that I will be talking about are Sexism, (Prejudice actions based on gender) Racism, (Prejudice actions based on race) classism, (Prejudice actions on those of a different social class) and discrimination on those with a disability.
In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.
One of the main themes of the novel is Racism. During the time of depression, racism and poverty were a common issue. People with a dark skin tone, i.e the African- Americans were seen as derogatory and treated like dirt. Harper Lee depicts it in a very realistic way.
Ever since human existence was known, women weren’t treated the same as a man. They were told to stay inside, care for the kids, and look pretty, as a paying man’s job was considered “too hard” for them to accomplish. But, during the years leading up to 1920, women had enough of this, they rallied and marched with a simple message, to be treated equal to a man. Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, set in a 1930’s Alabama, covers women issues at various lengths. From Scout’s tomboyish attitude, gender inequality, and gender roles, Harper Lee’s novel