Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Racial inequality has been a dilemma for years in the United States. Long after slavery was abolished, racism and discrimination was still extremely prominent within the States, especially during the early 1900s. World War I had left its mark in the form of a profound isolationist sentiment. The Depression paralyzed the economy, leaving 25 percent of the workforce unemployed. The Jim Crow Laws, strictly segregating Blacks from Whites, were still in effect in the South and racial tension was high. (PBS). To show how terrible and unjust this racial inequality was, Harper Lee creates the town of Maycomb, Alabama, a small town where prejudice against Negros is very common. We see the town and meet the people through the eyes of a young, innocent …show more content…
Atticus agrees to law for Tom Robinson, a negro, which the town believes is insane of him to do. Atticus judges people based on their character. He stresses that people should not judge others based only on the color of their skin. This is what Atticus teaches his children, Scout and Jem. Scout's mindset also comes from her young age, because she is not fully able to comprehend the hatred and prejudice against the Negros as well as how the town works and how the people there think. She shows this when she is extremely confused when her third grade teacher rants about how she cannot stand what Hitler is doing to the Jews, when the white citizens are discriminating against the black citizens constantly in Maycomb. She understands how the Negros must feel about this, and she also know what it feels like to be discriminated against. Discrimination comes in many different forms, not just racism. Throughout the story Scout is teased and mocked, because she is a tomboy. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee, 30). Atticus tells his children this so they can more understand the Negros and other people in
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