What Is Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism is one of the most important and controversial social issues of the modern world. It has affected millions of people worldwide, and it is one of the deepest social problems that America has faced in history. The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee talks of this history. To begin with, modern racism is a major problem that affects America today. Secondly, To Kill a Mockingbird though it mainly talks of racism in the south, gives a glimpse into the history of racism. First up, modern racism and how it affects America right now. Modern racism, also known as symbolic racism, is a new expression of prejudice that developed in the United States in the 2000s. It is essentially the belief that blacks violate American values, in particular,

Racism has been around since the 16th century. Although it changes, the same basic concept of one race being superior to the other stays around. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s during the depression. Though the fictional setting of Maycomb County is set in the south, the story still gives a glimpse into what racism was like in America during this time period. In To Kill a Mockingbird during chapter nine, Lee reveals the predominant racism throughout the town by illustrating Cecil Jacobs comments made about Atticus. On the playground, Cecil says, "Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers.” In chapter 11, Jem and Scout are walking past Mrs. Dubose 's home when she starts making very derogatory and racist comments about Atticus. Mrs. Dubose shows her racist personality in the story by telling Jem, “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!” Then once again in chapter 15, a lynch mob arrives at the Maycomb jail the night before the trial and tries to lynch Tom Robinson. By doing this, they show their racist ideology. After Tom 's death, Scout recites the town 's racist reaction by saying, “To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw. Funny thing, Atticus Finch might’ve got him off scot-free, but wait—? Hell no. You know how they are. Easy come easy go. Just shows you, that Robinson boy was legally married, they

By the same token, in 2016 there was a total of 7,615 victims of biased hate crimes. Of those 7,615, 29% or 2,220 of the victims were African Americans. Letting such a gracious amount of people die purely for the color of their skin is not only a crime against the people of the United States but a crime against the world. On May 20, 2017, African American university student and lieutenant in the US army Richard Collins was stabbed waiting for an Uber with his friends. Collins was three days away from graduating college. But Richard Collins is not the only one victim to such hate. Timothy Caughman. Amadou Diallo. Manuel Loggins Jr. Ronald Madison. Kendra James. Sean Bell. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. And Alton Sterling. Just ten of the 2,220 African Americans killed. America needs to put such crimes to a stop. The blood of many innocents covers the hands of others, it 's time for it