To Kill a Mockingbird - Racism & Discrimination

Racism & Discrimination

"To Kill a Mockingbird"

Have you ever been in a situation that dealt with race? I think we all have in some way or form. Many people of a different race are treated unfairly just because they're a different color. Or someone could have been given special privileges because of their race. There are many more examples than what I have listed, and each of the others could and probably is a form of racism.

In the dictionary it says that "racism" is a belief that some races are by nature superior to others, which to me is discrimination. I agree with this definition but I personally would say that racism is to treat people in certain ways in accordance to their skin color. I found there was a lot of racism and judgment past onto everyone that was not up to the standard of what was "the right way to live" in "To Kill a Mockingbird."

In To Kill a Mockingbird, I can think of many situations of racism but there are two that stand out. The first is Where Tom Robinson is found guilty of rape. It is very clear that he didn't do it but because of his color he is found guilty and is sent to prison. The only reason they found him guilty was because he was black. He was only doing good things for Maybell by helping her do her chores because he felt she was overworked. He was doing a good deed. He was a black man and because she got caught trying to seduce him he was convicted of rape. If he had been white it would never have went to a trial. She was a lonely young woman and someone was showing her a little attention and she done the only thing she knew how to do and that was to make an advance on poor Tom. Atticus made a great point when he said "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, is he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."(To Kill a Mockingbird 253)

The second is when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her church. Scout and Jem were told to go home and stay with their own kind by a member of the church. They were judged strictly by their race and how the people at Cal's church felt about whites. Some of the church people were ok and actually stood up for Scout and Jem. Scout and her brother witness the horrors of racism. They also learn valuable lessons about courage, compassion, tolerance, and prejudice.( Britannica)

There are many cases of racism everywhere you look. I definitely think people's mindsets about color are destroying relationships and the situation;