Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

A friend of mine once told me how often she goes without seeing another person of her race at school. She explained how uncomfortable she was and how she felt like she didn't belong. She explained that once she met someone else who could relate with her situation she became comfortable with her surroundings. According to illustrator Christopher Myers, “When we think about what it is to be ‘connected,’ we think about memory. We think about storytelling. All of these words that we hear - ‘literacy,’ ‘inclusion,’ ‘diversity’ - those are all words for connection… when I say to people ‘why do we need to have diverse books?’ it’s not because necessarily everybody needs to see themselves reflected in every book, but we need that sense of connection. …show more content…
Eleanor’s casual racism and fetishization towards Park fills the book with questionable moment such as “Park's eyes got wide. Well, sort of wide. Sometimes she wondered if the shape of his eyes affected how he saw things. That was probably the most racist question of all time” (Pg.64). Rowell’s recognition of the racism does not excuse the fact that it was indeed racist, but makes it worse since she kept it written in the book. This promotes the idea that it's okay for people to be racist as long as they know they are being racist. Although countless of these racist remarks are scattered in the book without any recognition. For example, “she didn't need to be telling weird Asian kids anything. Weird Asian kid.”(Pg.52) and “Stupid Asian kid. Stupid, beautiful Asian kid.”(Pg.310). This repetition and emphasis on Park being Asian is unnecessary to the plot and only proves Eleanor fetish towards Park. It is the comments, “‘You're so pretty, and so good. You have magic eyes,’ she whispered. ‘And you make me feel like a cannibal’”, such as this that cause this book to be uncomfortable when read. Park on the other hand hates his Asian genes because he thinks they emasculate him making him feel less and less of a man. Although Park’s acceptance of his Asian identity is never resolved other than Eleanor telling him that she thinks Asian men are hot. For people who can relate to Park, who are lost when it comes to being Asian or dislike …show more content…
The lack of research done by Rowell is clear when examining ethnic characters, such as Mindy, Par’s mother, and the only two black characters. The carelessness put into the two sassy black sidekicks, BeBe and DeNice, that bring nothing to the plot other than a failed attempt at diversity. DeNice, whose only purpose is to supple Eleanor with sassy comments about the other girls, and Bebe, who is given no personality at all, other than to giggle at everything DeNice says, are mindless stereotypes that are tossed away and never mentioned again. This only tells young black girls that they will never be more than a sidekick to their white friends and that white people will only be your friend if they can benefit from it. Notice the inauthentic representation and disgusting objectification of Asian women. In the book Rowell directly compares Park’s mother, Mindy, to a dainty China Doll which fuels the dangerous stereotype that Asian women are small and can be used as dolls. This spreads the idea that an Asian wife will be submissive and obedient which is notably similar to the relationship between Park’s parents. In the book, Park’s father was sent to Korea where he meets Mindy and “And he brings her home”, as Rowell states in an article called “Why is Park Korean”. This would imply that the place Mindy has grown up in for the majority of her life is not actually her home which is just not