Examples Of Social Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

As Brent Staples explains in his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” black people deal with many problems, from discrimination, and he explains these points in an orderly manner and each very thoroughly. Over the existence of the United States, blacks have had to face oppression due to the prejudices views held against this. America views every black person as the same and judges them based on the actions of others. It is for this reason that all blacks are judged based on the book of a cover without being able to show the world who they really are. As Norman Podhoretz stated in his Essay “My Negro Problem - and Ours,” “growing up in terror of black males; they were tougher than we were, more ruthless...”

One of the main themes of the novel is Racism. During the time of depression, racism and poverty were a common issue. People with a dark skin tone, i.e the African- Americans were seen as derogatory and treated like dirt. Harper Lee depicts it in a very realistic way. Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals.

Langston Hughes was one of the millions of Black American who faced systemic injustice simply because of their skin color. A choice that no human can make for themselves. This inequality affected Black Americans like Langston Hughes as early as birth. Several laws supported inequality and segregation. Hughes was often fueled by the injustice he faced.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them.

African-Americans have lacked a written cultural history because of the trauma of the peculiar institution. Their his/herstory (her story) is missing accurate narratives from crucial parts such as the middle passage, the era of institution of slavery, as well as the Jim Crow laws of the Reconstruction years. The trauma many black suffered because of these periods have been unspeakable until recently. Tony Morrison in her 1986 noble prize winning book, Beloved, creates a neo-slave narrative to confront these issues. Morrison brings emotional healing to blacks by speaking what was formally unspeakable by going into the psyche of the African American consciousness and reveals historical trauma.

The society used to turn a blind eye to the racial problems. Inspired by Jim Crow Laws, Scottsboro Trial, and African American Church Burning American novelist Harper Lee wrote her book To Kill a Mockingbird to portray the injustices and discrimination black people faced back in the 1900s. Jim Crow Laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States, these laws meant that black people were required to attend

The Black Power Movement of the 1960s-70s, goals centered around protecting African-Americans from the racist white society. First of all, all of the blacks were affected in the Black Power Movement but both whites and blacks were involved. The blacks were getting treated bad by the whites. The blacks were affected because they didn’t even have equal freedom as the whites and the whites didn’t do anything about it. The leader of the Black Power Movement was stokely Carmichael.

We are oppressed because we are black. “ Stokely said this because he wanted people to realize that blacks were all put into the same category just because they are black. There was no other reason to not like blacks besides the fact that they were black . People's minds were manipulated by society and what other people thought. Many whites looked down on black men and women without getting to know them for who they really were.

Upon browsing the effects of segregations and the legacy of slavery one would find many publishings upon the topic. Majority of the findings would consist of how the legacy of slavery lingers in our cities’ ghettos and the effects of communal experiences. One would also find the effects of how segregation negatively impacts health, and how different races in our community feel about segregation. Novels like To Kill A Mockingbird and The Secret Life of Bees discuss how African Americans are solely looked down upon due to segregation . Both of these works demonstrate that the Legacy of Slavery and Segregation holds a negative effect on race relations in today’s society.

Furthermore, Morrison uses the word conviction to show that even though African Americans were freed, they weren 't really free because they were still being oppressed by the rest of society. The author also uses the word "conviction" to imply that they are sentenced to be ugly; consequently, she is implying that until African Americans stand up for themselves and question things they aren 't free. Later in the novel Morrison uses the phrase "I reckon" on page 137, which is a representation of diction since "I reckon" is a common phrase that you hear in the south. Thus, by using the phrase Morrison is showing the southern ethnicity of the characters and is also establishing a southern identity for the characters as well. As a result, Morrison is illustrating that southern accents and being black makes life harder for them considering the fact that civilizations judge a person by their