1930s To Kill A Mockingbird

Ever wondered how life could have been in the time of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in the 1930s? Though much has changed, there is still an underlying sameness for most things in this world. The world of the 1930s was filled with racial discord and segregation. The world of To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with the racism apparent in the past. This novel sheds light on a particularly uncomfortable time in America’s history. All though it may appear that racism from the 1930s has completely disappeared, there may be some residual effects that resemble the past racial relationships.

Visible signs of racism have changed and adapted from the 1930s and has spiked racial discord in modern times. The definition of racism is so simple: any act

Racism was a common occurrence and was not viewed as something wrong. The actions of white men were common in the 1930s because the society simply accepted it as part of the culture. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the men plan to lynch Tom Robinson, though they did not actually kill him, they deserved punishment for trying. The Maycomb men had formed a lynch mob and were prepared to attack. Scout unknowingly stopped them and reminded them of their humanity (Lee 171-175). Veronica Majerol sheds some light on the seriousness of the attacks in the article “Emmett Till revisited: fresh evidence in the 1955 murder is just one reason for the renewed focus on Jim Crow-era lynchings”. The article goes in detail about the atrocity of Emmett Till’s murder, the article says that Emmet was kidnapped, shot, then dumped in a river. Emmett was only fourteen years old and was from the North. He was not fully aware of the danger, and deep prejudice of the South. Even with all the evidence and the witnesses, the murderers were set free. This goes to show how deeply rooted racism was in the South, the only justice was found when Emmett Till became a martyr for change. Lynchings and beatings were common, murders were expected, the 1930s was not a good time for Southern African

Racism is still characterized by the same attributes. Racial discord still exists today, but is found more often in inner cities filled with a majority of one race or another. Racism may appear to be more common in the 1930s, but in reality the amount of racial biases is still the same. Today’s nation has cut down on racial violence, but the judgement will always be there. The racial prejudice is not justified, but society has functioned this way for hundreds of years. Beverly Andrews captured the aftereffects of the racism of the past in the article, “Rock against racism." she writes that white police officers were murdered by an African American man. The African American male shot five white police officers because of the rising number of African American shootings by police officers. The rising number of deaths on either race will cause a rising of killings of the other race (Andrews, Beverly. "Rock against racism.").Humans are hardwired to skirt responsibility, people will use the killings of their race to justify shooting someone of that race. Nothing can justify taking an innocent's life, or at least innocent of the crime they are held to. Harper Lee shows us this in To Kill a Mockingbird, with Tom Robinson. Tom is sentenced to death for a crime that he didn’t commit. But in the 1930s there was no “fair” trial for him, especially with a white jury. Tom is similar to the policemen in