To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that presents extreme prejudice against blacks. The prejudice is shown on several occasions, especially in the Tom Robinson trial. Tom’s trial is similar to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case that took place in 1896. In both cases the defendant is ruled guilty because of their skin color. In the Plessy vs. Ferguson case Homer Plessy, who is only one-eighth black, is jailed for sitting in the “white” car when he was supposed to be sitting in the “colored” car. He is jailed because of Louisiana’s Separate Car Act that said blacks and whites were to sit in separate cars. In Plessy’s trial against the judge, John Ferguson, his lawyer said that his arrest violated the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. John Ferguson upheld Louisiana’s state law during the trial. This case was taken all the way to the Supreme Court and there it was said
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For example, the white people during Tom’s trial in To Kill A Mockingbird sat down where the trial was taking place and the blacks sat separately in the “Colored balcony” (Lee, 219). Although it was said that the blacks and whites were equal blacks were denied the right to vote. They also faced several legal discriminations and unequal opportunities. In Tom Robinson’s trial, he was ruled guilty of rape even though the evidence said different. The evidence said “Mr. Tate testified that her right eye was blackened...it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it...his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side” (Lee, 235, 238, 248). Tom was convicted guilty of rape only because he was black, not because he was actually guilty. In Homer Plessy’s trial, he was charged for sitting in the “white” car when he only had a small amount of black in him. It was that slight amount of black that caused him to be
For example, the white people during Tom’s trial in To Kill A Mockingbird sat down where the trial was taking place and the blacks sat separately in the “Colored balcony” (Lee, 219). Although it was said that the blacks and whites were equal blacks were denied the right to vote. They also faced several legal discriminations and unequal opportunities. In Tom Robinson’s trial, he was ruled guilty of rape even though the evidence said different. The evidence said “Mr. Tate testified that her right eye was blackened...it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it...his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side” (Lee, 235, 238, 248). Tom was convicted guilty of rape only because he was black, not because he was actually guilty. In Homer Plessy’s trial, he was charged for sitting in the “white” car when he only had a small amount of black in him. It was that slight amount of black that caused him to be