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Racism in the modern day american criminal justice system
Racism in the modern day american criminal justice system
Racism in the modern day american criminal justice system
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Research Assignment #3 Emmett Till: The murder that shocked the world and propelled the Civil Rights Movement, is an interesting account of a brutal murder in Money Mississippi in 1955. The author compiled several documents that had been previously unavailable to the public, interviews with family members, and newspaper articles to tell the story of a fourteen year old African American boys life and death. Emmett Till was raised by a single mother and his grandmother in Chicago.1 The author gives a very detailed account of not only Emmetts short life but of his mothers life shortlyt before Emmetts birth until after his death. Emmett and his mother were victims of racial prejuidices and voilence.
Emmett Till, an African American from Chicago, Illinois 14 years of age was brutally murdered for flirting with a white woman while visiting family in Money, Mississippi. His killers, the white woman’s husband and her brother, made Emmett carry a 75 pound cotton gin fan to the banks of the Tallahatchie River and made him to take off his clothes. The two then beat Emmett nearly to death, took out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to the cotton gin fan with barbed wire, into the river. August 24, while standing with his cousins and some friends outside a country store in Money, Mississippi Emmett bragged that his girlfriend back home was white. They all disbelieving him and dared Emmett to ask the white woman sitting behind the store counter on a date.
Tom Robinson is saying this quote because, he is trying to defend himself on the stand. Tom knows that he did not rape Mayella so he is trying to get his point across the jury and judge that he is innocent of the rape of Mayella Ewell.. Tom should not have felt bad for a white woman because she has to chores. Mayella should have told Tom that that was part of her daily life. “ The evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all negro men are not to be trusted around women”.
Recently, a negro named Tom Robinson has been jailed for supposedly raping a white woman, whose name is Mayella Violet Ewell. This is certainly biased since the family of Mayella did not provide any fact or evidence, rather only one witness who could have easily lied. Therefore, Tom Robinson could have been falsely accused of doing something a man like himself wouldn’t do. There are several reasons that suggest that Tom Robinson is innocent.
Taken for granted, Tom Robinson is being accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella’s Father, Bob Ewell, was the one for beating Mayella, and she blamed it all on Tom because the community would believe Tom was getting accused of rape; Mayella put all the blame on Tom because she did not want her father to go to jail. The community sides with Mayella because she is a white woman, and Tom is African American. Tom Robinson is convicted because of his race and the diversity that Maycomb has, and everyone in Maycomb gives him racial comments and calls him names. Atticus helps Tom out by being his lawyer for the case; he wants to show that he believes Tom and not Mayella, and he also wants justice for Tom.
It’s a hot and humid day and all of Maycomb is gathered to find out the truth behind what happened on the evening of November 21. The person in question is Tom Robinson an African American servant. He was accused by Mayella and Bob Ewell for rape of Mayella. The defendant, Tom Robinson, is supported and assisted by defence attorney Atticus Finch who is going against prosecuting attorney Mr.Gilmer. The courthouse was filled with people from all races, where the blacks sat in the balcony and the whites sat front and center in the lower level.
The trial of Tom Robinson shows just how ignorant the general population of Maycomb is. Atticus, Tom’s lawyer bombards the courtroom with obvious evidence against Bob and Mayella Ewell’s case and Tom is still charged guilty. It’s really important because it shows that even if there’s an obvious right and wrong, people will still follow the wrong as it’s easier not to go against the grain. “Then Mr. Underwood's meaning became clear: 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.” (245).
Even though the evidence presented made Tom look innocent, it is not surprising that he was deemed guilty. The first factor that affected the verdict is racism in the town. In the 1930s even though blacks were independent, they still faced diversity like racism. This is important because the community is white, so they would see Tom differently than the blacks in the town. Another reason the verdict wasn't shocking is because of Mayella’s behavior while testifying.
If it was a white man that was acued of rapping a woman I don't think he would be just let go. But certainly not the punishment that Tom got in the end. In my opinion the jury was tyrannical. Because the evidence that they had to call him guilty was only circumstantial. They all know he was innocent but unfortunately for Tom, they were prejudice.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story is set in the 1900’s, Maycomb, Alabama. During this time there was racism in the south and segregation which separated the whites and blacks from everything. There was also the Great Depression, the whole country was poor and people living in the country had to trade and do other jobs for people to either pay them off or to buy something from them. The trial in this book is about Mayella and Bob Ewell, two white people, claiming and arguing that Tom Robinson, a black person, raped Mayella Ewell. This trial is really important because at that time in the south, white people took advantage of black people and their kindness and thought they would take that or shut up just because they were black.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman who was Mayella Ewell, Mayella said he raped her while he was helping her with chores. She later on tells the readers that it was false allegations. The reason why she didn 't tell the truth at her first trial was because, Mayella was afraid of being embarrassed because she kissed a black male. She rather have an innocent man get charged with a crime than that. “However, Robinson was transferred from the state prison to Maycomb 's county jail on Saturday, two days before he stood trial on Monday, and Atticus had to defend him against a lynch mob”.
Author reveals racism during Great Depression when Tom Robinson, a black defendant, is on trial in front of white jury. Author uses imagery to describe Mr. Gilmer's rage towards Tom Robinson and repeats "you felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her"(200). Emphasis is placed on the "you" and "her" of the quote stressing that if anyone was going to pity anyone it should be the other way around. Tom makes a mistake by saying that he felt sorry for a white woman when whites are suppose to be superior to blacks during that time. Author expresses that "the witness realized his mistake, and shifted uncomfortably in the chair"(200) to describe Tom's realization of his mistake that he has overstepped societal boundaries by showing sympathy for a
Dear Members of the Jury, I am writing you this letter to tell to you that Tom Robinson should be proven not guilty. This case would have never happened if the truth would have been told and it wasn’t a case between black and white. There are many ways that Robinson is not guilty. One of these reasons that Tom Robinson is not guilty is that if you listened to the Sheriff 's testimony he stumbled frequently and when he said something and then Atticus would say something different he would agree with Atticus. Tom Robinson is a very polite man with great manners, which you could take into consideration that he wouldn’t dare hurt this woman in this kind of manner.
In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.
He lost a case because of a racist jury and lost his freedom and life along with it. To begin with, Tom Robinson is affected by racism because he is black and in society black men are not to be trusted near woman and since he was accused for raping Mayella Ewell, jury and Maycomb citizens believed that Tom Robinson was guilty. For instance, “[…] the evil assumption- that all Negro men are basically immoral beings, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women […]” (Lee 273). This shows us that many white individuals believe that black men are immoral beings and should not be trusted around woman, this instantly clicks into the jury’s mind leading a head start for the Ewell to win the case and even the jury already jumping to conclusions with their final decision with racial judgements.
