To Kill A Mockingbird Racism Quotes

Racism in Maycomb

In Maycomb County racism is a major custom, how does one survive it? Racism is one of the main ideas in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Every character in this novel is affected by it one way or another. A look back into the 1930s shows just how prevalent racism actually was, also how it can be connected similarly to racism we still face today. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we take a look at how racism affects Tom Robinson, Atticus, and Scout, in vastly different ways. Tom Robinson, as a black man in Maycomb, he unfortunately has to deal with the worst of racism. Many people, just after hearing that Atticus is defending a black man, already wish death upon Tom. “My folks said your daddy was an disgrace an’ that

At Scout's young age, she is yet to know how to be racist, or what racism even is. So when she says “Calpurnia says that's ****** talk”(49), she isn't sure why her brother Jem scowls at her. This quote is given to us as the scout's first reaction to racism. She understands the fact that she said something wrong by the way Jem scowled at her, but because of her youthfulness she is yet to know why. As Scout grows a little bit older she starts to understand more about equality, during a conversation with her brother she says “I think there's just one kind of folks.Folks.”(304). Hearing Scout say this in chapter 23 proves that she doesn’t live life through a racist eye, and that she sees everyone as equal. As the trial finished Scout fully realised the amount racism can actually affect other people's lives. “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(323). In this quote, we can see that Scout realises how much racism is actually embedded in Maycomb, and that even though her father made it clear to the jury that Tom was innocent, he was still found guilty only because of his skin