Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Racism is a perpetual issue that affects all groups of people around the world. Although this problem is still present today, we have come a long way since the 1930s. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, a young white girl from Alabama, recounts her childhood years, a series of events concluding in a racism-fueled hate crime that almost kills her and her brother, Jem. Because of this and other developments, she must come to the blunt realization that her town, Maycomb, is extremely racist and unwilling to see Negroes as equal. Through Scout’s incipient recognition of the unfair view and treatment of African Americans in her town, Lee emphasizes the notion that Scout’s society has been irreversibly corrupted by racism.
The African Americans in Maycomb are seen by the …show more content…
She, along with many others in her community, do not realize that African Americans are as intelligent as the rest of their community. They are not given a chance to learn at a real school because of their complexion, then are blamed when others try to teach them how to act. This is exemplified by Scout’s belief that her cook, Calpurnia, is incorrect for using“n*****-talk” (167). She sees it as “not right” because Calpurnia is supposed to know better and speak the way a civilized white person does. The idea of making “Christians out of ‘em” makes the Negroes seem irreligious and completely ignores the fact that the first thing they did once set free from the bonds of slavery was buy a church. By this time, it is already known that Bob Ewell beat Mayella, but the white community would prefer to blame it on an innocent black man, the reason “there’s no lady safe in her bed these nights,” then come to the realization that one of their own race would do such a terrible deed. Finally, after Tom Robinson’s failed attempt to escape from prison, and his death, the people of Maycomb are quick to judge his intentions as misguided and myopic:

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