One night, Jem, Dill, and Scout decided to try and get a look at Boo Radley through a loose shutter. As they made their way to the back of the Radley house Scout sees “...the shadow of a man with a hat on” (71). As kids begin to escape from Nathan Radley when suddenly Scout trips and “...the roar of a shotgun shattered through the neighborhood” (71). This caused everybody to gather in front of the Radley house, Miss Maudie explains that “Mr. Radley shot a Negro in his collard patch” (72). The blacks were automatically blamed for the disturbance of the Radley house. This was briefly talked about and later forgotten, however, if the roles were reversed and Nathan Radley tried shooting a white person, nobody would hear the end of it. Nathan is a logical man and knew it was white people going through his garden, but did not want to cause a bigger scene. …show more content…
When something bad happens they immediately blame the black people. Miss Stephanie claims he “Scared him pale, though. Says if anybody sees a white nigger around, that’s the one. Says he’s got the other barrel waitin’ for the next sound he hears in that patch, an’ next time won’t aim high, be it dog, nigger, or… (72). This passage illustrates racism in different ways. The first being the racist words they use to describe black people. Saying that Nathan Radley scared the black man pale is extremely racist and offensive, lastly, they equate black people to animals. This theme is seen in many ways throughout Maycomb, some are open and blatant and others are more hidden. Racism is a recurring theme and is the main reason for all the negative events that happen in this