Why Is Racism Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism has been around for a very long time. Racism can affect people in many different ways. People are very racist against certain groups of people such as African American and Muslims.Toms trial is another example in To Kill A Mockingbird of the racism. Racism still exists in this world today and hopefully it will continue to get better.

Racism has been a societal issue for many years in the past, and although we are taking steps in the right direction, there will probably be racism for the rest of the human race’s existence. This is represented in the town of Maycomb in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, which took place in a heightened time of racial division and discrimination. Racism is a huge issue that influences many aspects of society, such as work, family, and class. Harper Lee portrays the theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird through the speech and actions of her characters and imaginative symbolism.

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”- Martin Luther King Jr. Prejudice is, by definition, a pre-existing bias without any proof or evidence. A distorted way of thinking that rotten the mind, alienates, and dehumanises one group or an individual. It is the belief that is not born with but developed by the environment and lifestyle that one is brought up. It brings hardships and difficulties to the people that are affected by it. Prejudice and injustice are not just exhibited in human beings, but also in the fictional stories that

Part of the human nature consists of racial judgment towards others. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, presents themes of gender bias, justice, and social class. But one of the main focuses in the book is racism. Most of the people in Maycomb County show racial judgments, opinions, and comments against African American people, as well as white people. Jem and Scout learn the power of racism and what it does to people, as they experience certain situations. Through the stories of Tom Robinson's trial, Jem and Scouts journey to Calpurnia's church, and Mrs. Dubose's commentary to Jem, the theme of racism remains.

To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a book about racism and discrimination over people because the color of their skin. In this book, people like Tom Robinson, Scout Finch, and Helen Robinson are affected by racism.

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.

Racial inequality was a problem in the time period of Scout and Jem. Now a days though, it has cleared up and everybody is treated about the same. There are still some people who do not like different races. To Kill a Mockingbird is important because it shows how grievous things were back then. It shows that the African American community was super poor compared to white people. It shows that even people around the colored people were treated poorly. And it shows that the justice system is corrupt and is unfair to African Americans. It is a solace that racial inequality is becoming less and less of a problem. The United States now has an African American president which never would have been thought of back

“Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.”-Alex Haley To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that is greatly affected by the way others see the world. Scout, a young girl, growing up in Maycomb a place where racism is accepted. She is constantly learning how racism affects the community through different altercations in Maycomb. She realizes that racism shouldn’t exist due to the side effects. In To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee conveys that racism causes inequality between people, isolation, and injustice.

Racial injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird was malevolent due to the executing of a black man with false evidence, but today the racial injustice appears to be eliminated although it still exists. Today the legal system will not tolerate the racism like it is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Racism is normal in Maycomb county some support it and others are against, the Finches are high in society, although they still respect the blacks. Racial injustice throughout the book is a big factor with Calpurnia as a maid, And Atticus defending Tom Robinson, but less of a factor for everyday life in modern times.

Once again during court Scout mentions how Atticus viewed people harassing negros just because they’re black. “Atticus says cheatin’ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man” (pg 269) This shows how Atticus knew how bad colored men are treated when convicted of something they didn’t even do unlike a white one. Crime sentences are much more harsh on them than the rest of us. Also, when talk to the jury Atticus quoted our declaration with: “But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal-there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal to Einstein, and he ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court. It can be the Supreme Court of the United States or the humblest J.P. court in the land, or this honorable court which you serve. Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” (pg 274) This strong quote proved that Atticus wants people to put aside what they are told and/or what they think of african americans and to put aside differences and just look at the evidence and decide with that and not with his skin color. To remember that person is a person no matter what race they were born

Racial discrimination in the South was unbelievably brutal, and people treated innocent humans worse than livestock. This excessive amount of hate destroyed hearts and caused actions that were completely inhumane. How would it feel to know that death and pain was caused as a result to a person’s hatred and thoughtless work. After the civil war, African Americans were considered inferior to whites. They were completely disrespected, murdered, and lynched for one reason: their skin color. Natural rights were violated, and in some cases, taken away, due to the fact that a good amount of white people wanted to feel superior. To Kill a Mockingbird represents the larger society of the American South during this time period by connecting fictional

What if the world was still the same as it was back during the great depression. What if this was the truth. In To Kill a Mockingbird readers can see how prejudice affected people of color back then, and how it’s not so different from today. In the novel readers will find unfairness in court, hate crimes, and segregation. Today readers can still find these same issues, but in different forms. Prejudice towards race has changed very little from back then to now.

Racism can be defined as a major problem in United States history, and can be dated back to the 1400’s. Racism can be viewed and defined in many ways, but most accurately is seen as the state of characterizing an individual based on his race, and or believing that one race is superior to another (Shah) . Racism is as big of a problem in the USA as anyone can think, starting way back to when the country had just began to form, when Europeans started settling into the 13 original colonies (Shah). Ever since then, it seems that the problem has only been on the rise, rather than the opposite. Racism has always been a major issue, although hundreds of years have passed since the birth of racism, the problem just seems to never go away.

One of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is racial discrimination. Examples of racism and prejudice against black people can be seen throughout the novel. There are several reasons as to why people segregate dark people and they are mostly the important events happening in the 30’s. The time period of which the book was written is the 1930’s and it was a quarrelsome time for race relations. During that period an economic slump, called the Great Depression, had affected many people’s lives as it was the most severe depression ever experienced by an industrialized country. Also factors like the Jim Crow laws and the 2nd Ku Klux Klan resulted in white people discriminating against blacks people.