In To Kill a Mockingbird, the family of Scout, Jem, and Atticus Finch go through their lives living just past the great depression. This means the Jim Crow Laws were in full force. This is a reference to the laws that legalized the act of segregation between whites and those of color. They used the term “Separate but equal”, though the non-white communities were far less superior to their white counterparts. At the apex of this point in history it was so bad “One of them—the white—had all the power, wealth, and privileges while the other—the black—faced daily, seemingly unending incidents of terror and humiliation, with hardly any freedom, very little wealth, and absolutely no justice.” (Tischauser, 1) This is apparent in the text in many ways.
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Calpurnia is a well educated and capable woman, but since she’s colored she’s forced to work as a maid in the Finch abode. Though they treat her very well and she’s more family than a maid, there’s a reason behind why Calpurnia is with the Finch Family. Another example thats the spotlight towards the conclusion of the story, Tom Robinsons alleged rape against Mayella Ewel. This case is clearly in Toms favor but the racial bias of the jury narrows the chance of Toms victory to unfathomable odds, and he loses. The Jim Crow laws, also called the Black Codes, had many other effects. A brief description would call them “a legal ‘color line,’ which placed harsh penalties on anyone who tried to cross it. “ (Tischauser, 7) The Black Codes had similar effects, although it was under a different name. They were much more short lived than the Jim Crow Laws but still had the same effect. They made it nearly impossible for people of color to have any chance at success. Again the previous examples shown in the book, Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Both of these characters go through hardships due to the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws. Another less prominent example would be …show more content…
Continuing on the case also firmed the public belief that people of color were not able to hold themselves to the same color of white citizens. “White opposition to equality grew rapidly and became increasingly violent. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other terrorist groups had organized a massive terror campaign to stop the reforms. By the time the next elections came around, killing, beating, burning, and whipping blacks who dared to vote reached epidemic levels.” (Tischauser, 10) The fact that the public was allowed, and sometimes even encouraged, to do this and remain while harming innocent citizens shows how racist the society was. This was even mentioned in the book, Atticus tells Jem and Scout the Klu Klux Klan had left and weren't going to settle in macomb again. It’s even seen again when Atticus is talking with Tom Robinson about his trial and people come to attack Tom, there was nothing there aside from the Finch family that would stop them from attacking Tom. There wasn’t any reason they couldn’t have attacked him as well, as there was no mention of any punishment coming upon the men who wanted to attack
Calpurnia is a well educated and capable woman, but since she’s colored she’s forced to work as a maid in the Finch abode. Though they treat her very well and she’s more family than a maid, there’s a reason behind why Calpurnia is with the Finch Family. Another example thats the spotlight towards the conclusion of the story, Tom Robinsons alleged rape against Mayella Ewel. This case is clearly in Toms favor but the racial bias of the jury narrows the chance of Toms victory to unfathomable odds, and he loses. The Jim Crow laws, also called the Black Codes, had many other effects. A brief description would call them “a legal ‘color line,’ which placed harsh penalties on anyone who tried to cross it. “ (Tischauser, 7) The Black Codes had similar effects, although it was under a different name. They were much more short lived than the Jim Crow Laws but still had the same effect. They made it nearly impossible for people of color to have any chance at success. Again the previous examples shown in the book, Calpurnia and Tom Robinson. Both of these characters go through hardships due to the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws. Another less prominent example would be …show more content…
Continuing on the case also firmed the public belief that people of color were not able to hold themselves to the same color of white citizens. “White opposition to equality grew rapidly and became increasingly violent. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other terrorist groups had organized a massive terror campaign to stop the reforms. By the time the next elections came around, killing, beating, burning, and whipping blacks who dared to vote reached epidemic levels.” (Tischauser, 10) The fact that the public was allowed, and sometimes even encouraged, to do this and remain while harming innocent citizens shows how racist the society was. This was even mentioned in the book, Atticus tells Jem and Scout the Klu Klux Klan had left and weren't going to settle in macomb again. It’s even seen again when Atticus is talking with Tom Robinson about his trial and people come to attack Tom, there was nothing there aside from the Finch family that would stop them from attacking Tom. There wasn’t any reason they couldn’t have attacked him as well, as there was no mention of any punishment coming upon the men who wanted to attack