Critical Race Theory In To Kill A Mockingbird

Aunt Alexandra demonstrates discrimination, even against her own race, when she refused to allow Scout to have Walter Cunningham over for

Ruth lived a very sad life with her father, she admire the Black folks they were poor but they appeared happy. Ruth states, “If there was one thing Tateh didn’t like more than gentiles, it was black folks”(McBride 107). Tateh hated black folks so much that after Ruth married Dennis James’ father a black man, he disowned her. Keeping that a secret was better off for her kids but James wanted to know where was his mother from, who was her family, so James went to Suffolk, Virginia where his mother was raised. To find out that his grandfather was a racist, horrible person.

"It 's not about what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings" stated Eppie Lederer, a former American columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper. In the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" written by Harper Lee, a small town filled with narrow-minded people, refuse to accept change. When a middle-aged lawyer, Atticus Finch, takes on a controversial case, the town begins to question Mr. Finch and leaves his two children too curious for the town’s comfort. Although some might say Atticus does a poor job raising his children, Lee proves that the best parenting comes from a strong-minded person with integrity, regardless of what others think through Atticus ' empowering advice, strong morals, and his belief in equality.

This quote relates to discrimination of race which leads to unfair society because the trial hasn't started and Cecil Jacobs and the townsfolk already believe that Tom Robinson is guilty even though there is no evidence to suggest that he is guilty of the crimes placed against him. People are basing their opinion on their own racial prejudices/discriminatory, and are assuming that because he is a black person that he committed the act, although no evidence was presented. This leads to an unfair society because the towns folk do not know the full detail of the case and are leaning toward the Ewells side due to the fact Tom Robinson is a black man living in a white man’s world where his words and his side of the story is not heard because he’s black. Another reason why that discrimination of race can lead to unfair society directly leads to Tom Robinson for example Uncle Jack states: “The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you Did-I-didn’t.

A powerful quote said by Atticus to Jem was the following: “[s]o far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process.” (295). I think this shows that anyone was once innocent as a child, but as one becomes older and aware of the evil, they get influenced to do evil as well. However, they are still good people.

Kevin claims that Dana is his wife; Rufus squeals and says, “Niggers can’t marry white people”, “It’s against the law” (Butler 60-61). The Deep South had banned interracial marriages until 1967. Although interracial marriage was unheard of, miscegenation was common but it “often led to complications in the South. Sometimes white men loved their black concubines more than they did their white wives” (Blassingame 84). Many of the white wives would file for divorce if this happened and they would also take out their anger on the black woman involved.

I think the meanings of these mistakes are that the narrator will show the readers how hard the black people have it in Harlem. The reason to the mistakes might be to show us that the black people are dumb and can’t spell, because there’s so many who doesn’t have a job, and therefore their kids can’t come to school. Otherwise the language might be effected by the common use of slang in the ghetto’s. When I draw parallels to the text “American skin (41shots) “ It reminds me of the old Mrs. Davis who is really concerned about her son every time there is any kind of crime in Harlem (Page 18 line 20-22). This also appears in “American skin” because Lena is worried about her son going to school.

An example of this can be found when Ellen wont eat with Starlettas family simply because they are black. But later on in the novel she realizes that racism is wrong. Life advice from the novel ‘A Separate Peace” would be don't let jealousy and envy overtake you, because it can lead to something you will regret in the long run. This example is found when Gene causes Finny to break his leg because he is jealous of Finnys athletic ability. But later on finds out that he ruined Finnys athletic days altogether and ends up regretting it in the long

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, a widower and a lawyer, lives in small county Maycomb, Alabama during the Great American Depression. Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man, from false capital charges of sexual assault, which Bob Ewell claims, likewise, antediluvian Atticus must protect himself and his children from Maycomb’s racist views. Even so, the town accidently kills Tom when he attempts breakout, nonetheless, Bob Ewell is bitter towards Atticus for revealing his lies in court. Although, Bob Ewell pursues to kill Atticus’ children for revenge, Boo Radley, Scout’s neighbor adjourns Bob Ewell’s ambush. The controversy of the trial influences Maycomb’s white children and neighbors to mistreat Atticus’ children, Jem and Scout, through abusive language.

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.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem, Scout, and Dill’s innocence is destroyed. They lose their carefree and happy existence through the ignorance and racism in their hometown of Maycomb. Initially, the children believe everyone in Maycomb is friendly. They do not understand the racism occurring in their town until Tom Robinson’s trial. After observing the Tom Robinson trial, the children’s view of some of the citizens in their town change because of the hatred against blacks and the obvious injustice in the courtroom.

Where the misdemeanour, and no matter how clear their own child’s guilt, parents ask immediately: Were you with Jasper Jones? (P.g 5, Jasper Jones) This quote demonstrates how the audience originally believed Jasper was nothing but an annoyance to the community. Due to the Vietnam War being such a violent and tragic period in time, this added to the overall ferocity of the setting of the novel as the war influenced the 1960’s immensely. The Lu family who were Vietnamese immigrants were constantly outcast by traditionalists because of their Vietnamese heritage.

Because the social ladder is built based off of race, Tom immediately gets cast to the bottom without a second thought. “Sorry” is italicized to illustrate the disbelief, which contributes to the fact that the public does not accept Tom’s honest sympathy for Mayella, nor do they even attempt to understand him. Because of this narrow-minded thinking, Tom’s biased persecution eventually escalates to his death. Another example of the little empathy the town possesses is presented in Scout’s third-grade classroom, where lessons are learned from current events. Given that To Kill a Mockingbird is set around the 1930s, of course, one day the topic of Hitler is brought up.

It is true that police most of the time target minorities. For example, In Charles Blow’s article he talks about how George Zimmerman did not plead guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, and how unfair the justice system treated Martin’s Family. The first mistake was made when the neighborhood watch calls the police and told them about unusual behavior. When Zimmerman killed Trayvon, he said that the suspect was walking too slow, and it was a very suspicious behavior and he shoots him for the safety, but that was not a case ,it was more like a racial problem. In the Article Blow’s mentions “the system failed him” a lot of times, he expresses how disappointed he is about the choice of the justice system.

When he takes this job the Maycomb community instantly criticized Atticus for helping Robinson. Atticus’ two children, Scout and Jem, are also judged because of their father’s job. Almost everyone in Maycomb has preconceived judgements against Atticus and the blacks in the community. In the novel