Blacks and Whites in the 1930’s Charles R. Swindoll said: “Prejudice is a learned trait. You 're not born prejudiced; you 're taught it.” Swindoll was right. A perfect example of racial prejudice is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The white people of Maycomb County have a prejudice bred into them. The Finch family, however, has a different mind set. Atticus doesn’t teach Jem and Scout to be hateful towards the black community. He teaches them that regardless of skin color, all humans are equal. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39) Although the worlds of the blacks and whites seem very different, they’re linked together.
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When a job did open up, even if the black person was better qualified, the white contender would get the job. If a black man was hired, he was paid a fraction of what white men doing the same job received. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mr. Ewell is given a welfare check every month, which he and his family live off of. Though the country is in the middle of the Great Depression, this evil, immoral, un-gentlemanly human is given a check to spend on food… or whiskey. All the while, good natured, hard working, respectable African Americans work day in and day out, and their race is seen as a lower class of human beings. There were laws in place that they must use different water fountains, bathrooms, and hospitals. While black people were reluctantly allowed on buses, they were required to sit in the back and give up their seat, should a white person ask. Atticus can’t keep the fact that the rest of the county treats blacks poorly from his kids, although he tries hard to teach them that all humans are equal. When Calpurnia runs to the Radley house to warn them of the rabid dog, and she bangs on the front door, Scout says, “She’s supposed to go around in back.” (124) Although she doesn’t say this maliciously, it is apparent that Scout is aware of the way things are; she’s aware of the separation of the black and white
When a job did open up, even if the black person was better qualified, the white contender would get the job. If a black man was hired, he was paid a fraction of what white men doing the same job received. In “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mr. Ewell is given a welfare check every month, which he and his family live off of. Though the country is in the middle of the Great Depression, this evil, immoral, un-gentlemanly human is given a check to spend on food… or whiskey. All the while, good natured, hard working, respectable African Americans work day in and day out, and their race is seen as a lower class of human beings. There were laws in place that they must use different water fountains, bathrooms, and hospitals. While black people were reluctantly allowed on buses, they were required to sit in the back and give up their seat, should a white person ask. Atticus can’t keep the fact that the rest of the county treats blacks poorly from his kids, although he tries hard to teach them that all humans are equal. When Calpurnia runs to the Radley house to warn them of the rabid dog, and she bangs on the front door, Scout says, “She’s supposed to go around in back.” (124) Although she doesn’t say this maliciously, it is apparent that Scout is aware of the way things are; she’s aware of the separation of the black and white