Examples Of Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

Imagine a world in which the tall people gave orders to short people. In this world, tall people got the best of everything and short people essentially got their rejects. Of course, short mates with short and tall mates with tall, creating a never ending cycle. Black people experienced this every day.
In this novel, Harper Lee depicts the prejudice and hate of a time period through the eyes of a young person, while portraying the contrasting ways of thinking within society. So much so, in fact, that a white boy is brought to tears because of the palpable hate emanating from community members. The book has a number of instances in which African-Americans are either displayed as inferior to or are scorned by whites. So much so that in 1935 Alabama, laws were in effect that meant blacks were legally discriminated against, albeit with a pretence of equality. The point of view of the book is of a child who doesn’t understand the concept of discrimination and has begun her climb onto the hatred bandwagon. However, the family of the main character does not support racism, and different views on the subject are on display.
In 1935 the American south was openly racist. This is most obvious with the Jim Crow Law that was enacted between 1876
and 1935. However, even though in courts, where blacks ‘legally’ had equal rights with their Caucasian neighbours, a black person on trial was an unquestionable conviction. The fact that at that time an African-American man was not able to receive medical attention from a white nurse by law, no matter how dire the circumstances, explained that blacks were second class in the eyes of the majority and therefore those in legislature.
There are many, many instances of discrimination throughout the book. Most astonishingly, because Scout has grown up in a racist society, the happenings around her do not receive a second look. The simple actions of Negros waiting for the white persons to go into the court house and still having to sit on a different balcony during the court trial subtly shows that blacks were simply a second-class citizen in Alabama. Atticus Finch, perhaps the most respected citizen in Maycomb County, is disliked and insulted for a period of time simply because he is openly a “nigger-lover”, meaning that even being friends with a Negro was out of the question in those days. This was being friends with the trash of the Earth, after all. But as Atticus says to Scout, “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.”
Scout, as a very young child, was naturally influenced by her environment.
She demonstrates this while conversing with her father about his decision to actively defend Tom Robinson in the court trial, saying, “Well most folks seem to think that they’re right and you’re wrong...” in chapter 11. She believes that the majority is always right, and as she’s learned how to do things by watching those around her (such as speak and walk) she figures that the community is much more likely to be correct than one person, even if that person happens to be her wise old father. However, Atticus teaches her one of the most important lessons in the book, which is that “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s
conscience.”
As I said, Atticus is insulted for loving black people, which demonstrates the amazing contrast between the society’s thinking and wise thinking. Miss Maudie Atkinson explains to Jem and the children that not all of Maycomb was against Tom Robinson, but that honourable people like Judge Taylor, who appointed Maycomb County’s best lawyer to defend Tom, gave Tom the best chance possible to escape an awaiting death sentence. The author paints a community that is ignorant and cannot think for itself on the topic of racism. I guess the term “the one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience” doesn’t seem to apply to the hard-headed.
Martin Luther King had a dream, saying that, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day...not be judged by the colour of their skin, but the content of their character.” I am sure that Tom Robinson dreamt a similar dream the night before the trial, wishing to be treated fairly, all the while that in the society of the day the pigs were more likely to quote Shakespeare. The court trial is just an example of the loathing towards black people given by whites, unfair as it was. Atticus Finch said that you don’t understand a man without walking a mile in his shoes, and Harper Lee presents the uncommon point of view flawlessly.