To Kill A Mockingbird Racism

TKAM ESSAY

Throughout the history of mankind, racism has existed in many forms. Whether it was subtle racism, learned racism or even reverse racism, racism has been a part of the world for many years. Individuality in others also forces people to examine themselves and their beliefs, principles . If a person has different beliefs, values or even looks different, he or she is often mistreated or looked at differently by others. People fear people who look different than the social norm. Forms of prejudice can be found in To Kill a Mockingbird’s town of Maycomb. The small town of Maycomb has many examples of prejudice that provide proof of learned and systematic racism. One of the most obvious examples of racism is the prejudice that Tom Robinson faces. Tom is an African American man in the small town that was accused of raping a white woman. He was accused of this crime by Mayella Ewell who comes from a family that faces prejudice themselves by the rest of the town because they are viewed as “trash” themselves. Since Tom is black, he is automatically viewed by the town as guilty. Tom is viewed as trash by the people of Maycomb, particularly Mrs. Dubose. In Chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose tells Jem and Scout that their “father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” (Lee 135) This quote shows that Mrs. Dubose views Tom , especially him being black, as trash. She also includes Atticus in that statement because