Racial Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Improved Essays
To begin, racial prejudice was common at this time and the people that suffered from it in Maycomb County it was because of ignorance. One Saturday evening Calpurnia asked Jem and Scout if they wanted to go to the black church since Atticus was going to be out. When Calpurnia, Jem, and Scout arrived at The First Purchase, Lula, Calpurnia's acquaintance, greeted them and said, “I don't know why you bringin’ white chillun to nigger church”(P.158). Lula was known for being a troublemaker and did not want Jem and Scout to be allowed at The First Purchase, even though their father Atticus Finch was defending Tom Robinson, a black man in court. Lula was being ignorant, not knowing why the children were there,making Jem and Scout suffer by feeling scared and not welcomed at The …show more content…
He’s ruining the family that's what he's doing”(P.110). Francis thinks Atticus is ruining the family by defending Tom Robinson and that his Family was going to be called nigger-lovers if they went in to town. Francis was being ignorant not knowing the situation Tom Robinson was in and cared more about his own social status and family reputation. This caused Scout to suffer as she and her dad were being insulted for doing nothing wrong. They were trying to create a more accepting society and were being verbally abused for doing so. Additionally, one morning while Atticus, the children, and their Aunt Alexandra were eating breakfast, Aunt Alexandra brought up Braxton Underwood. Atticus clearly demonstrates Braxton Underwood’s racial prejudice when he says, “He despises negroes wont have one near him”(P.15) In this quotation Atticus is telling Aunt Alexandra that B.B or Braxton Underwood won't have a black person near him. However, when he is at the prison the night of the mob he covered Atticus, even though Atticus was making sure a black man was

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    According to the text, Atticus tells Scout she will “hear some ugly talk about it at school” describing how people are talking about the case in a derogatory way. Even Scout’s cousin says that Atticus “mortifies the rest of the family.” Later, Scout and her brother go to church with Calpurnia, the African American housekeeper. At the service, the reverend collects ten dollars for Tom Robinson’s family. When he says that Tom “has been a faithful member of First Purchase since he was a boy” the readers and characters start to realize that Tom is more than just a controversial topic, but a real person.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays
    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He's been grown up on the fact that all n*****s are inferior, and Atticus is tarnishing the family name by taking Tom Robinson's case. Francis even goes as far to tell Scout that, "Grandma says it's bad enough he [Atticus] lets you all [Jem and Scout] run wild, but now he's turned out a n*****r lover we'll never be able to walk the streets of Macomb ever agin (sic). He's ruinin' the family, that's what he's doin." (Lee, 110) For Francis to talk about Atticus like that in front of his own daughter, takes some serious cojones. It shows how Francis growing up with Grandma has put a belief in him that n*****rs are below white people, just from living and probably hearing this a lot from…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays
    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ap Euro Dbq Imperialism

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus Finch believed that every man should be treated fairly. He let people know his views by defending a black man, Tom Robinson, much to the dismay of the townspeople. He also taught his children to not have prejudices against black people. He tells them “As you grow older, you 'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don 't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash (224). " The moral lessons Atticus teaches Scout contrasts with the culture of Maycomb where the white people continue to treat black people as less than themselves.…

    • 1272 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus And Racism

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Atticus sets a good example to Scout and Jem because he believes everyone is equal and; therefore, Tom Robinson is black, it doesn't mean he can't defend him. For example, Atticus tells Scout many times that if he didn't defend Tom Robinson he wouldn't tell Jem or Scout not to do something. He has to set a good example for his children and if he expects them to do something or follow certain values, then he must display them first. In the book Atticus says, "The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” This quote proves that whatever Scout or Jem believe in they have to stand up for it.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An example of racial prejudice is when one of Scout's classmates comes up to her and says, “Your dad's a nigger lover.” Scout gets upset by this and goes home after school and asks Atticus about “nigger lover”. “Scout” said Atticus,”nigger lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything” (Lee 107). Another example of racial prejudice is when Calpurnia takes Jem and Scout to her black church. Then they come in a women named Lula said that Jem and Scout shouldn’t be at their church.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This passage explains the lecture Atticus is giving scout referring to the discrimination white people have against black people. Atticus is also showing the repulsion with white people taking advantage of a black man’s ignorance, in this case, Tom Robinson. Likewise, Scout starts to have a different point of view of her surroundings. Furthermore, scout starts learning about the hypocrisy of her teacher Miss Gates. Miss Gates condemns Hitler’s persecution of the Jews and discriminating against black people.…

    • 1476 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel 'To Kill A Mockingbird ', Harper Lee presents the prejudicial problems faced in everyday American society in the mid 1930 's, a time where injustice was prominent, especially in the southern states of the USA, which is where this novel is set. The problems create a domino effect and allows the reader(s) to discover how they all fit together to create one large social problem; prejudice. Underneath the seemingly calm and lackadaisical impression the small town of Maycomb gives off, is a powerful atmosphere of hostility towards the African-American community. The consonance that appears to exist between white and African-American people is disrupted quite often by minor paroxysms of friction and it becomes clear that the peace…

    • 1797 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus possesses divergent beliefs towards colored people. He believes in equality and against the racial discrimination in his town of Maycomb. “…I do my best to love everybody…I’m hard put, sometimes – baby, it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. (Lee 108) Atticus is teaching Scout on how and who to love.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Go Set A Watchman, returns readers to Maycomb, and reintroduces them to the characters from one of the greatest coming of age novels, To Kill a Mockingbird. Watchman had tremendous controversy taking place on both the pages of the novel and swirling around outside the novel since it’s release. Several readers and critics alike became mortified that Atticus, a moral patriarch is exposed as a racist. Although, disheartening this is a realistic tragedy, it is natural to mature with age and in doing so now understand the flaws in people that had once been considered a hero.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus, in contrast to many other characters in the novel, does not accept the institutionalized racism that is entrenched into Maycombian society. Instead, he fights racial prejudice because he views it as fundamentally flawed and stemming from a lack of empathy and understanding for those outside one’s social group. Furthermore, Atticus’ emotional investment in Tom Robinson’s case shows the personal level on which racism affects him. When discussing with Scout why he was defending Tom Robinson, Atticus explained, “… every lawyer gets a case at least once in his life that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess.”…

    • 1318 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tom is the town’s scapegoat, all of their wrongdoings get thrown at him based simply on the fact that he is a black man. We as the reader find that almost every person in the town is angled against Tom right from the start. This can be seen when Scout’s cousin Francis calls Atticus “... nothin’ but a n*gger-lover!” (chap. 9) for defending Tom on the trial. The way that a child can have so much hatred for one race is horribly reflective of the way the town treats Tom.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Where you live, who you interact with and the ideas and ways of thinking that you are exposed to all contribute to who you are. In the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the ideas of racism and prejudice against black people are ones that are taught to the children and enforced by the elderly. Social constructs such as all women must be docile, elegant and ladylike while men are to be gentlemen, are examples of the many ideas engraved into the minds of the citizens of Maycomb County. In some ways these ideas may seem harmless, but they can easily manifest to become violent and harmful to certain individuals. The ideas portrayed in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” are used to show the negative aspects of ideas such as prejudice and…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays