To kill a Mockingbird In the 1900’s one the most common things that people were talking about was racism. Racism was a big part of the society during that time. Many people were killed because racism. These were not the only factors that inspired Harper Lee to write “To Kill a Mockingbird”but she expressed her feelings and thoughts for how cruelly people were treated in the book.. People during that time weren’t scared to insult each other because of their race because racism was everywhere in the country and there was no law to prohibit racism. Jim Crow Laws ,Scottsboro Trial, and African American Church Burning inspired Harper Lee to write her book. Jim Crow Laws helped us understand how racism was back in 1900s in Maycomb Alabama. It showed us how black people always had to be lower than white people. For an example, it showed how black people …show more content…
In the article Scottsboro Boys and “To Kill a Mockingbird”: Two Trials for the Classroom it stated that, “The lessons of the infamous 1930s Scottsboro Boys case in which two young white women wrongfully accused nine African American youths of rape illustrate through fact what Harper Lee tried to instruct through her fiction.”This quote shows that black people were always accused from white people and the judge will always believe the white race. Also in the article “To Kill a Mockingbird”: Two Trials for the Classroom it stated that, “Both historical and fictional trials express the courage required to stand up for the Constitutional principle providing for equal justice to all under the law.” This quote shows that people should get equal rights to make them feel they are equal for
Leading up to the Civil Rights Movement, the black community was in a constant battle against law enforcement treating them unfair compared to the white community. The Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till’s cases were one of the many times that the legal system showed to be unfair to blacks. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the law enforcement and community were very racist against blacks and believed all blacks were criminals. In the story, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer gets put into a very difficult situation and decides to defend a black man, who went by the name of Tom Robinson.
In today’s world, many people live their lives by the way they are influenced by society. People nowadays are influenced by society in many ways. They are influenced by the way other people react to certain situations, any news they see in the media, or just the way they were raised by their families. With the victims of the Scottsboro trial and the novel To Kill a Mockingbird you can see how all these things plays an effect on the way Mayella, Ruby, and Victoria are shaped and you will see how the character, Mayella, relates to the non-fictional victims of the Scottsboro trial. During the trial in both the fictional and non-fictional cases society plays a big role on shaping the people involved as victims.
This novel came out just as people were fighting over school desegregation, and civil rights movements that sought to restore basic civil rights for African Americans. It was a time of group action in the United States during which African Americans and the NAACP’s objective was to fight racism, discrimination and racial segregation that denied them their fundamental and basic rights. Lee was inspired by a catalysing event that occurred in her hometown in the 1930s when she was only ten years old. The trial is famously known as the Scottsboro Boys Case, where nine young black boys were wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime. They were charged with raping two white girls on a train and were sentenced to the death penalty.
The Jim Crow Laws were sadly an unbelieve event that took place in the 1800’s of American history. These laws targeted African American males, giving literary test and asking unreasonable questions about the U.S.A that many white males couldn't even answer, to many not able to read nor write causing many black males “unable” to vote. The Crow Laws also made segregation legal such as, white and black only schools and movie theaters. White schools, movie theaters, and etc,.. where far better than the African American builds which were often run down or poorly funded. You may think to yourself that it was so far back that in today's culture, those laws do not have any effect anymore, However you might be wrong.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee that was published in 1960. The novel has been highly praised for its portrayal of racial injustice and prejudice in the American South, and it has been widely taught in schools across Canada as well. There are several reasons why this novel should be taught in schools to students. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. "
Picture this, you live in an isolated town where everyone knows each other and gossip is passed around in a matter of seconds. You're accused of a crime that you didn’t commit, and it's clear that you didn’t commit it. You are found guilty because you belong to a racial group that is segregated. You stand no chance of winning the case because of a biased or racist jury. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, she tells a story about a family in Maycomb County, Alabama, where their dad, Atticus, is appointed to defend a black man, Tom Robinson, who is being accused of rape.
Racism played a part in the Scottsboro trials in many ways. Racism is an act of discrimination against ones race. Racism is motivated in many ways. People use it to boost their self-esteem to make them feel better about themselves. Structure is another part; whites want to have what they are familiar with and do not want change among society.
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a great novel that has been a nationwide sensation. The success of the novel in America led it to be translated into many different languages and shipped to many different countries. The novel was best known for its themes and characters who had to overcome some problems. Since this novel was published in 1960 people have argued that the messages about race are outdated; however, the novel still teaches readers about controversial issues and highlights racial injustice.
The famous words of Martin Luther King still echo into our society today, "I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls". The basic lesson that Martin was trying to teach is the same that the author Harper Lee is trying to get across in To Kill a Mockingbird, that all men and women of every skin color are equal. Harper Lee shows this by depicting a white family that lives in a white town in the early 1930s in southern Alabama. Atticus, the father, is defending an African American man named Tom Robinson. He is accused of raping a white woman, and the town is against Tom because of racism, even though there is no evidence against him.
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.
Imagine that your living in the 1930s, you’re a white woman, and you had just gotten “raped” by a black man or group of black men. This exact scenario happened in the critically acclaimed book To Kill a Mockingbird and in the real-life court case deemed the Scottsboro trial. Which in both the book and the court case, the characters, and people were shaped and influenced by society to become victims and accusers. This paper is going compare and contrast how the fictional character Mayella and the non-fictional plaintiff Victoria Price and Ruby Bates as painted victims and accusers by society.
Imagine one day being wrongfully accused of a crime and sent to jail without a fair trial or even a proper representative in court. That seems a little unjust, does it not? Unfortunately, many people in the past were imprisoned and killed for crimes they did not commit like in the Salem Witch Trials or the Scottsboro Trials. Even though the Salem Witch Trials and Scottsboro Trials were over two-hundred years apart, there are many similarities between them.
Harper Lee´s life is similar to the character Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. The Scottsboro trial was occurring when Harper Lee was growing up, and the Tom Robinson case was occurring when Scout was growing up. Harper Lee used lots of her family names for names for people for To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee and Scout were both tomboys and both a had boy bestfriend.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” also highlights the truth towards the whole society can alter the definition of justice. Here, Atticus defends a black man for his words for the right to have a voice within society and not to be misjudged due to racism. Hence, Harper Lee uses the novel to convey the
The Scottsboro Boys Case and To Kill a Mockingbird were cases of the injustice of black men. Harper Lee was trying to point out that a person 's skin color or race does not justify the actions they done, that anyone who practices prejudice is foolish. That prejudice is an actual reality that a person experiences first hand and hurts others in the process. Like Harper Lee with her father being a lawyer she must’ve experienced it first hand. These stories teach us that you shouldn’t judge a person by their race.