Racism analysis

The theme that I have selected to analyse is Racism. The texts that I will use to explore this theme are the films ‘Django’ directed by Quentin Tarantino, ‘Schwarzfahrer’ directed by Pepe Danquart, the poem ‘Racism is around me everywhere’ by Francis Duggan and the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. In this report I will research how racism affects individuals with dark skin, what the consequences of racism are, and how racism is the norm throughout different periods of history. Racism is an ongoing issue and in my report I aim to change the way you think of racism and what we can do to end this abominable behaviour.

Across all texts that I studied, characters are racially ill-treated. In Pepe Danquart’s Oscar-winning short film ‘Schwarzfahrer’, the main character is racially abused because of his African descent. Similarly in the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, an African American called Tom Robinson is falsely accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell because of the colour of his skin. The black man in ‘Schwarzfahrer’ enters a tram, and sits on a free seat next to an old lady. The old lady, who first chose to ignore him when he asked if he could take the seat, starts to insult and berate him; criticizing him on taking the seat 'just like that'. Throughout her soliloquy, whilst the black man remains quiet, she states that all blacks stink, are unintelligent, criminals and the perfect bearer for AIDS. "...They should at least have their names changed when they come over here, or else you can't tell them apart at all. What's more, they smell awful. But there is no law against that!" The old lady in Schwarzfahrer separates herself from the black man by referring to herself as “we” and referring him as “they”. She uses this language to indicate that his race isn't as superior as hers. Tom, in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is sentenced to death without a fair trial because of his African descent. His Lawyer Atticus Finch is the only being in the town of