Most people accepted discrimination and thought of it as a way of life, but not Atticus Finch. Jim Crow Laws attempted to keep African American people separate from white people as well as keep things fair, but that does not stop the jury from discriminating against Tom Robinson, along with maintaining their social hierarchy. The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the 1930s, a time when people encouraged Jim Crow Laws. Although some people may have thought that Tom did not commit the crime Mr. Ewell says he did, nobody could admit it. Society placed whites on a pedestal and always looked down on African Americans. The jury does just this, most of them think less of Tom Robinson just because of his skin color. If someone
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Although not directly mentioned, Jim Crow Laws impacted the trial and the outcome directly. These laws and etiquette did not serve the purpose of creating separate but equal spaces. These laws just added unnecessary chaos to people’s everyday lives. Especially when these laws are specific in one state than another such as when “white motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections” (Jim Crow Museum). As everybody knows, times have changed. If this rule gets presented to the population nowadays, the majority of the people would not accept it. These laws put whites above blacks in every way, such as anywhere from social life to working status. Part of Maycomb’s community not only looks down upon blacks, but they treat them as if they are servants or objects. Today, for the most part anybody can befriend anybody. Some states adopted certain Jim Crow Laws that “severely regulat[ed] social interactions between the races” (Jim Crow Museum). It almost seemed that white people could not interact with any African American people at all because of these very strict rules. Although this is not true, it was socially acceptable for a white person to say an African American person committed a crime when they did not. Tom Robinson experiences this exact issue and nobody questioned it because of his skin …show more content…
People can obviously see a defined social class in Maycomb and most people do not move in the social status that often. Atticus Finch, Mr. Underwood, and Judge Taylor all have good jobs that pay well, recieved a good education, and have a good family life which puts them at the top of the social status. One would find Walter Cunningham below these men on the social status because of his poverty. Walter does work hard though, which puts him above Bob Ewell who remains lowest among the white men in Maycomb. As usual, white men will remain on top, followed by white women and children, than African Americans in this time period. None of these men and many more (whether on the jury or not) would want to move down the social ladder because some people might think that people will respect them less. Despite Tom Robinson having Atticus as his lawyer, he did not have a fair trial and “this lack of diversity [...] prevented the Mockingbird jury from providing Tom Robinson with his guaranteed right to a fair trial “by an impartial jury of the State” (Furgeson 488). The court can always say that the jurors do not get chosen based on race, but that is exactly what happens. During this time, one would find only white people in the jury because of the harsh racism that occurred in this time period. Fears of people
Although not directly mentioned, Jim Crow Laws impacted the trial and the outcome directly. These laws and etiquette did not serve the purpose of creating separate but equal spaces. These laws just added unnecessary chaos to people’s everyday lives. Especially when these laws are specific in one state than another such as when “white motorists had the right-of-way at all intersections” (Jim Crow Museum). As everybody knows, times have changed. If this rule gets presented to the population nowadays, the majority of the people would not accept it. These laws put whites above blacks in every way, such as anywhere from social life to working status. Part of Maycomb’s community not only looks down upon blacks, but they treat them as if they are servants or objects. Today, for the most part anybody can befriend anybody. Some states adopted certain Jim Crow Laws that “severely regulat[ed] social interactions between the races” (Jim Crow Museum). It almost seemed that white people could not interact with any African American people at all because of these very strict rules. Although this is not true, it was socially acceptable for a white person to say an African American person committed a crime when they did not. Tom Robinson experiences this exact issue and nobody questioned it because of his skin …show more content…
People can obviously see a defined social class in Maycomb and most people do not move in the social status that often. Atticus Finch, Mr. Underwood, and Judge Taylor all have good jobs that pay well, recieved a good education, and have a good family life which puts them at the top of the social status. One would find Walter Cunningham below these men on the social status because of his poverty. Walter does work hard though, which puts him above Bob Ewell who remains lowest among the white men in Maycomb. As usual, white men will remain on top, followed by white women and children, than African Americans in this time period. None of these men and many more (whether on the jury or not) would want to move down the social ladder because some people might think that people will respect them less. Despite Tom Robinson having Atticus as his lawyer, he did not have a fair trial and “this lack of diversity [...] prevented the Mockingbird jury from providing Tom Robinson with his guaranteed right to a fair trial “by an impartial jury of the State” (Furgeson 488). The court can always say that the jurors do not get chosen based on race, but that is exactly what happens. During this time, one would find only white people in the jury because of the harsh racism that occurred in this time period. Fears of people