However, Atticus comes from a long line of law and order Southern liberals who treat African Americans as a child-like race that needs the guidance and wisdom of the white man. Harper Lee posits a view of the Civil Rights movement where Southern liberals are the guiding force and African-Americans are simply passive characters who serve as messengers in the struggle for a citizenship that Harper argues they aren’t ready for. These paternalistic tendencies follow Atticus through the years. During the Depression era, it makes him America’s racial hero. During the Civil Rights era, it makes him the
However, Atticus comes from a long line of law and order Southern liberals who treat African Americans as a child-like race that needs the guidance and wisdom of the white man. Harper Lee posits a view of the Civil Rights movement where Southern liberals are the guiding force and African-Americans are simply passive characters who serve as messengers in the struggle for a citizenship that Harper argues they aren’t ready for. These paternalistic tendencies follow Atticus through the years. During the Depression era, it makes him America’s racial hero. During the Civil Rights era, it makes him the