To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

In HarperLees book, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many suits of racism. During this time in history racism wasacceptable. Racism is a key theme in her book. Not onlythose who were black, but also those who affiliated withblacks, were considered inferior. Atticus, a lawyer, whodefended blacks in court, was mocked. An example of thisis when Mrs. Dubose said, Your fathers Atticus nobetter than the niggers and trash he works for Mr. DolphusRaymond was also criticized for affiliating with blacks,especially black females. Example is when Jem said, Helikes em blacks better n he likes us whites, I reckon.Basically, you were black if you liked blacks. Blacks,because they were considered inferior, were expected to doeverything for whites. Everything had to be perfect, withoutexcuse. Even when Calpurnia, a Finch family friend, did notmake the perfect cup of coffee, she was mocked. harborexcerpt, She Calpurnia poured one tablespoon of coffeeinto it and filled the cup to the brim with milk. I Scoutthanked her by sticking out my tongue.... Even when blacksdid do good, they were still mocked. An example is when aunty Alexandra said, Jems growing up now and you aretoo. We decided that it would be best for you to have somefeminine influence. Even though Calpurnia was a female,aunt Alexandra over-looked this, because of her race.People were so biased, it didnt matter how good a job ablack person did. Since there was such strong racism inMaycomb, there were excuses made for whites. In thebook, it was obvious that Bob Ewell was a mean man. Itwas also obvious that he was abusive to his daughter,Mayella, and he was the one who violated her, not TomRobinson, because what the evidence showed. But, thepeople of Maycomb over-looked the evidence in favor ofTom Robinson, just because he was black. In Harper Leesbook, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many examples ofracism. The legal barriers to racial equality have been torndown, and racial exclusion from the benefits of society andt he rights of citizenship is no longer nearly total, as it oncewas. But discrimination still limits the opportunities and stiflesthe hopes of many black Americans and other minorities. Inthe realms of housing, employment, medical care, educationand the administration of the criminal justice system, we arestill, as the 1968 Kerner Commission Report on civildisorders warned, two separate Americas. At this moment