Gender roles are shaping society’s views on the different individuals living within communities, especially with new and uprising controversies about gender. Men and women everywhere are being pressured and pushed into these roles that they are supposed to portray, by the media. Specifically, the image of African Americans–more importantly males–has basically been created by the media. On the news and social media, African Americans are constantly associated with violence and illegal activities.
The image of African Americans has been tainted since the 17th century. Through slavery and after their emancipation, colored people have struggled with inequality and slammed with stereotypes. Even though both the Civil Rights Movement and the …show more content…
The white character Mayella accuses Tom Robinson--an African American man--of a crime he did not commit. The evidence Atticus brings to trial proves Tom’s innocence, but overcoming years of racism takes more than one day in court. The law says we’re all innocent until proven guilty, but in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, the presumption of innocence is masked by racism. Though the trial targets Tom Robinson, in another sense it is Maycomb that is on trial, and while Atticus eventually loses the court case, he successfully reveals the injustice of a stratified society that confines blacks to the “colored balcony”– much like today where people’s views of colored people are confined to the stereotypes created by the media–and allows the word of a despicable, ignorant man like Bob Ewell to prevail without question over the word of a man who happens to be black. In the trial conducted in the courtroom, Atticus loses. In the trial conducted in the mind of the reader, it is the white community, wallowing in prejudice and hatred, that loses. So if there are books like these that exist (showcasing the wrong and inaccurate portrayal of African Americans), then why do these stereotypes continue to prevail within the minds of other
The image of African Americans has been tainted since the 17th century. Through slavery and after their emancipation, colored people have struggled with inequality and slammed with stereotypes. Even though both the Civil Rights Movement and the …show more content…
The white character Mayella accuses Tom Robinson--an African American man--of a crime he did not commit. The evidence Atticus brings to trial proves Tom’s innocence, but overcoming years of racism takes more than one day in court. The law says we’re all innocent until proven guilty, but in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, the presumption of innocence is masked by racism. Though the trial targets Tom Robinson, in another sense it is Maycomb that is on trial, and while Atticus eventually loses the court case, he successfully reveals the injustice of a stratified society that confines blacks to the “colored balcony”– much like today where people’s views of colored people are confined to the stereotypes created by the media–and allows the word of a despicable, ignorant man like Bob Ewell to prevail without question over the word of a man who happens to be black. In the trial conducted in the courtroom, Atticus loses. In the trial conducted in the mind of the reader, it is the white community, wallowing in prejudice and hatred, that loses. So if there are books like these that exist (showcasing the wrong and inaccurate portrayal of African Americans), then why do these stereotypes continue to prevail within the minds of other