One of the most prevalent topics in To Kill A Mockingbird is the town of Maycomb 's underlying racism and prejudice. The book shows that racism is very existent in the world around us, and can be seen in many different ways. In Martin Luther King Jr 's Letter from Birmingham Jail, Mr. King speaks of the inequalities and repercussions of being African American. Maya Angelou 's Graduation tells a similar story of Ms. Angelou being faced with inequalities at her high school graduation. All of these events were, unfortunately, a result of the racism that was especially present during the 1930s to the 1970s.
Mr. King 's letter has many of the same topics as To Kill A Mockingbird. An example of this is when Mr. King says, “We will have to repent …show more content…
When Mr. Edward Donleavy speaks at the African American school 's graduation, it 's clear that he thinks very lowly of the class he is talking to. He never says as much, but it 's apparent in his wording and the way Ms. Angelou describes him. He tells the class about the Central (white) school 's improvements and how they 'll be learning about chemistry and art. He then belittles the black students by saying they could possibly be athletes or service workers, which is almost nothing compared to what he said the white students could live up to be. As Ms. Angelou says, “The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren 't even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises” (108). This contrasts To Kill A Mockingbird when Aunt Alexandra is hosting her missionary circle with a group of women. Both Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Farrow make racist remarks, but it 's Mrs. Farrow 's that stands out. She says, “Looks like we 're fighting a losing battle...it doesn 't matter to [black people] one bit. We can educate 'em till we 're blue in the face, we can try till we drop to make Christians out of 'em, but there 's no lady safe in her bed these nights” (252). Here Mrs. Farrow disregards all blacks by
Mr. King 's letter has many of the same topics as To Kill A Mockingbird. An example of this is when Mr. King says, “We will have to repent …show more content…
When Mr. Edward Donleavy speaks at the African American school 's graduation, it 's clear that he thinks very lowly of the class he is talking to. He never says as much, but it 's apparent in his wording and the way Ms. Angelou describes him. He tells the class about the Central (white) school 's improvements and how they 'll be learning about chemistry and art. He then belittles the black students by saying they could possibly be athletes or service workers, which is almost nothing compared to what he said the white students could live up to be. As Ms. Angelou says, “The white kids were going to have a chance to become Galileos and Madame Curies and Edisons and Gauguins, and our boys (the girls weren 't even in on it) would try to be Jesse Owenses and Joe Louises” (108). This contrasts To Kill A Mockingbird when Aunt Alexandra is hosting her missionary circle with a group of women. Both Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Farrow make racist remarks, but it 's Mrs. Farrow 's that stands out. She says, “Looks like we 're fighting a losing battle...it doesn 't matter to [black people] one bit. We can educate 'em till we 're blue in the face, we can try till we drop to make Christians out of 'em, but there 's no lady safe in her bed these nights” (252). Here Mrs. Farrow disregards all blacks by