Why Is Racism Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Jem , Scout , and Dill live in Maycomb , Alabama around the time of the 1930’s they all were struggling through racism and poor family’s trying to get by. Harper Lee’s first and only novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was published during the civil right movements. In this book Jem, Scout, and Dill tend to have courage and loyalty through life and in their relationship toward one another . Jem and Scout are brother and sister, Dill is a friend of the family but they accept him as a brother. Although, Jem and Dill have the most exceptional relationship out of them all. “ To Kill A Mockingbird” the impact racism had on society shows through the setting , characters , and town of Maycomb , Alabama .

How does racism affect a story? As a kid in the 1930s, Harper Lee grew up when there was hardly any equality for African Americans. Harper Lee’s only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is heavily based off of prejudice and racism from her childhood. In her book, she writes about racial discrimination through the eyes of a six year-old girl, named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, during the Great Depression. Her and her family are deeply tied into racism and prejudice involved throughout this story. Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is ever apparent as the story is located in a small southern town in Alabama; it is reflected upon three of the main characters: Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, Jem Finch and their father, Atticus Finch.

Racism That Affected Maycomb Harper Lee in the novel, To kill a Mockingbird explains that race is a big problem. Lee supports her arguments by explaining how racist people treat POC. The author's purpose is to convince people to think how racism can affect people in the book. What she does in order to convince them to think what and why racism is bad and how they get offended.

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, “ Cry about the hell white people give

The setting of the book To Kill A Mockingbird has a huge role on the conflicts, outcome of the trial, and Jem and Scout’s development. The book takes place in Maycomb county Alabama, in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Since Alabama is in the south, and was before the Civil Rights Movement, most of the white residents in the town were racist. In the book, the town of Maycomb is almost like a character on its own. It is a small town that had lots of farmers who were struck hard by the Great Depression. Scout, who is the narrator of the book describes it by saying, “Maycomb was a tired old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square”(Lee 6). Scout even goes on to say, “People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything”(Lee 6). In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the conflict of racism is shown through the trial, Atticus, and Jem and Scout’s uprising in a non-racist home but in a prejudice town.

In this book “to kill a mockingbird” the book is place in 1900’s the kind of racism that takes place in the book doesn't happen today But was very common in those Times.Now African American are accepted like any other person.

When Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird during the 1930’s her novel Harper Lee proves the way racism had a major effect during the 1930’s. Harper Lee’s novel explained how much of an effect on the United States and the African Americans with the downfalls leading to majority of the African Americans deaths all because of them being different race and having to act different.

Race, class, and gender all connect to create a status of power. Gender matters because it can determine the rights and access a person has to many luxuries. Race matters because it determines the privileges and experiences a person can get in life. Class matters, because it can determine how a person spends their lifetime. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Mayella Ewell is a white woman of low class, who overall is not powerful.

Racism is the hatred or intolerance to another race. This usually involves one party believing they are superior to the other and have the right to rule. Maycomb County, Alabama is a town that demonstrates separate is surely not equal. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee suggests the evident role race plays in the town.

In today’s day and age, the United States of America is seen of as the land where every human being is treated fairly. However, it was not always like this and America was considered to be one of the most racist countries in the world up until the 1980’s. From 1885 to 1968, when the Jim Crow laws were in place, black people were segregated from whites and were treated like second class citizens. However, black people fought for equality all throughout the Jim Crow era and finally succeeded after the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. Blacks in the American South sought to improve their lives by supporting and helping white people that had helped them before, by joining the American military, and by protesting against segregation and their rights.

In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that black Americans receive 10% longer sentences than white Americans through the federal system for the same crimes. Published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the greatest works of fictional writing in American history. Set in the 1930s in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, this story is about a young girl, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and her family. Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who has been assigned the job of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, in a trial. Although Tom is innocent, it is hard to get off the hook as a black man in 1930s Alabama. Tom is found guilty after a long and grueling trial. This leaves Scout and her brother, Jem perplexed. They don’t understand how the jury could find an innocent man guilty just because he is a different race. Throughout the book, Scout and Jem have to learn about the racism problem in America, and why it is dividing the country. To Kill a Mockingbird shows that racism has the power to negatively affect a community because it makes good people do bad things, creates hypocrisy, and it creates hatred.

“The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.” US Representative, John Lewis said this in his return to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial he spoke on 54 years ago, during the March on Washington. Racism has been around since the beginning of time, but it is not human nature. Racism is something that is taught, and given the amount of time that has passed since To Kill A Mockingbird and the March on Washington, one would think that racism wouldn’t be a serious issue any more. Although race relations have improved along with other social issues from the time of To Kill Mockingbird, racism and discrimination are major problems in today’s society.

names’s Tom Robinson”. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson,

“To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place in a small town called Maycomb in the 1900’s. Racism is quite present in Maycomb, it was shown when a young African American man was put on trial for raping a young white women. This trial was greatly affected by the racism of Maycomb county. The citizens of Maycomb are greatly affected by racism, they judge Atticus because he defends an African American, they vote unfairly because of racism, they judge Mr. Dolphus Raymond for living his life with African Americans. In the trial Tom is found guilty when his argument was clearly honest but still people voted him guilty because of his skin color.

In the story, “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, it is filled with a variety of lessons and symbolism. The biggest lesson takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The time takes place in the 1930’s where the race of white people overrule African Americans. Atticus Finch, lawyer and the father of the main characters Jem and Scout, teaches that to kill a mockingbird is a sin because all they do is make music for us to enjoy. The mockingbird in the story is very important to show how the life of an innocent black man is taken out of hatred and racism. The mockingbird in the story is Tom Robinson for the reasons that he is thoughtful and kind to Mayella Ewell, brought to court for a crime that he did not commit, and is discriminated