White Supremacy In To Kill A Mockingbird

Superior Essays
“We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe-some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they are born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than others-some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men” (274). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch contradicts Thomas Jefferson’s famous quote, revealing to us that there is no such thing as equality. Set in the southern state of Alabama, To Kill a Mockingbird is a story through the perspective of young Scout Finch during the time of the Great Depression. A controversial case is put on trial, exposing readers to the effect of white supremacy. Similarly, Rosa Parks’s discriminative society was what caused her take action and stand up to segregation. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson’s trial exemplifies racial superiority, while Rosa Parks challenges the segregation of blacks and whites. Both Harper Lee and Rosa Parks’s actions argue that those who are colored are born with the disadvantage …show more content…
To demonstrate, as Judge Taylor was polling the jury, he read “guilty…guilty…guilty…guilty…” (282). Similarly, when asked what made her decide not to get up from her seat, Rosa Parks added “I did not sit at the very front of the bus; I took a seat with a man who was next to the window -- the first seat that was allowed for "colored" people to sit in” (“Interview with Rosa Parks”). Those of color in both To Kill a Mockingbird and Rosa Parks’s society did not have a considerable say in anything. Nothing they did or said could win against white dominance because of their lack of impartiality. The unfair treatment of African Americans can be prominent in any situation during the time of the Great Depression and 1955. Thus, due to the fact that they are colored, Tom Robinson and Rosa Parks were treated

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Racism stands for more than one thing. In this case Harper Lee expresses that the theme in “ To Kill A MocKingbird” is you should never judge or mistreat someone because of their skin color. In this book a black man was found guilty for raping a white women when he was clearly innocent, in addition he was also shot 17 times because he was black. In some cases shooting someone 17 times and is unarmed is called overkill. So, therefore, racism is still a big thing in the U.S. today Tom Robinson, an African American man found guilty for a crime he didn’t commit such as raping a white women, whose name is Mayella.…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, There is quite a bit of Discrimination and Social Inequality issues between the whites and blacks. Of course, you haven’t read the novel, so you wouldn’t know. That’s why I’m here, to give you a in-depth look into what really happens in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. We’ll cover the issues that have taken place, and mention the dramatic changes that has happened over time to overcome discrimination.…

    • 665 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (295) With these words, Atticus informs Jem that not everything is right and fair. What Atticus meant most importantly by this quote was that not everyone is equal to each other in the world. To be more specific, African Americans and white people are no where near equal.…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”-- Martin L. King Jr. Mayella’s Social Power Everyone's lives are different; people all have different privileges and experiences. Some people may be able to afford expensive things; some may be able to acquire a high paying job; some, maybe, are just thankful to eat dinner that evening. These privileges are determined by someone’s social power which is then dictated by someone’s class, gender, and race. Harper Lee, the author of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, challenges the idea of power for one of her characters, Mayella Ewell, who is a low-life white woman who sends a black man, Tom Robinson, to trial for…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racism In Tkam

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Racism is unfair and everyone should have equal rights in court, in personal choices, and in society. In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus supports an African American man, which is very rare in the society because most white people do not support black people, and they think that they are better than black people. Everybody in Maycomb thought that he was wrong and a disgrace to the family. White people never lose to black people. Even though Atticus knew that a black man would never win over a white, he gave it a shot and tried his best to support Tom Robinson.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Tom Robinson, an African-American man, who was represented as a “Mockingbird” in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, was wrongly accused of raping a white woman. After he went on a trail filled with unfair juries and lost the case, he was sentenced to jail, but was then brutally murdered by some guards. Based on this storyline, the main theme is social injustice, the moral unfairness in a society of colored citizens and other minorities, which is mentioned the greatest and gradually developed throughout the book.…

    • 86 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, once stated, “All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.” Although it is a fundamental American idea that people are created equal, this often is not the case due to personal bias. The similar sentiment, unnecessary racism, is mirrored in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Each race was considered separate; segregation was not only expected but was the law. in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many examples of racism in the 20th century. The Tom Robinson case in itself is a tragedy against the black man. The author further details separation between blacks and whites in the courtroom during the trial and goes even…

    • 1778 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The word racism, what does it referred to? According to google definitions, “The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races”. As individuals, we see ourselves more superior than others. In "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD", one of the major themes is racism.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The idea of races in the United States being separate but equal was initially introduced in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896. Because of the outcome of this case the strive for equality became more difficult. The case’s outcome and the ideas that came about because of it attributed to many laws and social constructs that were set into place afterwards. Many of these beliefs and laws are seen while reading To Kill a Mockingbird.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the world we live in Racism is an everyday struggle for someone who doesn’t fit into society’s version of the social norm. The book To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee and The report in the Scottsborro case by Miss. Hollace Ransdell pull us back into time where racism was a nationwide problem, especially in the south, and the authors of both pieces of literature try to portray this in an effective manner. To kill a mockingbird and The report on the Scottsborro case reflect the evils of racism, peer pressure, and social class through a vivid use of point of view. To begin, To kill a mockingbird doesn’t portray racism through point of view as well as The report on the Scottsborro case because To kill a mockingbird only shows one point…

    • 1181 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Scottsboro Trial

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Comparing and Contrasting the Trials of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Boys Racism and prejudiced views, although they still exist today, used to have huge negative impacts on the way people used to live back in the 1930’s. The Declaration of Independence stated that “all men are created equal.” Although that was said and implied, the right was still robbed from others because of the color of their skin. The novel written by Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird perfectly portrays this in a court case set in the 1930’s where a man Tom Robinson is convicted of rape solely because of the color of his skin.…

    • 1228 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that presents extreme prejudice against blacks. The prejudice is shown on several occasions, especially in the Tom Robinson trial. Tom’s trial is similar to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case that took place in 1896. In both cases the defendant is ruled guilty because of their skin color.…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The argument made by Harper Lee in “To Kill a Mockingbird” mentions that social inequality is increasing; it is difficult and it affects everyone. The inequalities the occurred during the time period of the book took place in shows the amount of racism the blacks had faced. They ruined all the human nature laws and principles that are lived by. “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, he is trash” (Lee…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grant Harper Mrs. Murray Pre-AP English 9-Block 1 27 November 2017 Race Relations Then & Now “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” “I have a dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is a convincing speech that shows that he wants to end racism and live in harmony with all skin colors. The black community in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is not treated well at all because of their skin color. Even though African Americans are still being treated wrong, there has been a huge improvement in the treatment of African Americans from 1930 to today. African Americans contributed to numerous roles in the community of Maycomb Harper Lee’s…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays