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Examples Of Racial Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white man defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape. Atticus, his children Jem and Scout, live in the small town Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. With this location and time setting, Lee reveals the racial injustice of the south through the characters Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, and Calpurnia. The first event that reveals racial injustice was when Calpurnia, the housekeeper, explained to Jem and Scout why she talks with slang at the church and around black people and why she talks more proper in public and around white people. When Calpurnia, Jem, and Scout return home from church, they ask her why she talks differently …show more content…

Mayella Ewell claimed Tom Robinson beat and raped her. Both of Bob’s and Mayella’s testimonies have many loose holes and have multiple things that don't add up. For example,Tom not being able to use his right arm, but Mayella claimed he got on to her, beat and choked her. “And so, a quiet, humble, respectable negro, who has had the unmitigated TEMERITY to feel sorry for a white woman, has had to put his word against two white peoples. The defendant is not guilty. But somebody in this courtroom is...now, gentlemen, in this country our courts are the great levelers. In our courts, all men are created equal. I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and of our jury system. That's no ideal to me. That is a living, working reality!...” (Lee 273). This paragraph reveals the theme of racism in the city of Maycomb because Atticus has to re-explain why Tom is innocent. He has to keep telling them that the evidence from the Ewells don't add up, there was no positive medical kit, and Tom's story doesn't add up with the Ewells. It shows racism because it shows how far the people of Maycomb will go to make a black person suffer. It shows how much hate is filled with the whites of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is eventually shot 17 times by a police officer, and leaves behind his wife and three children. The outcome of Tom Robinson is horrible. But it shows how little the …show more content…

Lee was trying to convey this theme because it shows the reality of American history; people being discriminated against because of their race. The message of racial injustice still applies for current times. For example, a black man wearing a hoodie can be seen as a threat. Lee’s theme helps readers realize that racism was a thing in the past and still a thing in the present. It made readers realize we, as a society, have come far from where we were. But, we are not where we need to

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