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Prejudice and discrimination key concepts
An essay about meaning of a discrimination
An essay about meaning of a discrimination
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What is discrimination? Discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, and sex. There are many forms of discrimination. Such forms are; sexism, racism, sexual orientation, religious and spiritual belief, age, class, body type, ethnicity, social class, religious belief, and wealth. I am going to discuss sexism, racism, social class, and wealth. Even though discrimination is immoral, but it still continues to exist. In 1930, it was appeared to be more prevalent than in today’s society. There many forms of discrimination present in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The Finch family is discriminated against by the people in Maycomb because Atticus choose to defend a black man after Judge Taylor gave him the case. Atticus choose to take the case because he knew no one else would and he doesn’t discriminate against blacks. I wondered if the Finch family discriminates other families. As far as I could see the Finch family doesn’t discriminate families, even the Ewells. But I found something that interested …show more content…
During lunchtime, Miss Caroline offers money to one of her students, Walter Cunningham. Walter refuses the money because he knows he can not pay it back. Scout explains to Miss Caroline that the Cunninghams are poor and don’t take anything they can not pay back. When Atticus served as the Cunningham’s lawyer the Cunninghams had no money to repay Atticus, so the Cunninghams pay Atticus in the form of stovewood and hickory nuts. Later, Jem invites Walter to their house for lunch. While eating their meal, Walter pours molasses on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. This act causes Scout to remark and embarrass Walter. But it also shows a difference in status between the Cunninghams and the Finches. The Cunninghams don’t have money for molasses. The Finches do have the money for these
Atticus Finch is another victim of prejudice in the novel. After accepting to defend Tom Robinson, the town doesn't treat Atticus as an equal. The people of Maycomb believe that Atticus should not present a proper defense for a black person. Atticus doesn't care for this because he believes in equal rights. Atticus does not believe in racism or prejudice. Many people believe that Atticus should not defend a black person in court. This is because many people in Maycomb think a black person is guilty before anything is announced. While Atticus is defending Tom, Atticus makes the jury think differently about Bob Ewell. This makes Bob threaten and disrespect Atticus and his family. Atticus is not bothered by this because he knows he is doing the
And finally, when Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons, the Finch family must not be racist or prejudiced. Francis is a member of the Finch family, even though he never acts like it. Just because you are in the same blood line does not necessarily make you a family, the people who treat you with respect are your true family. Dill is more of a member of the Finch family than Francis is.
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
Imagine a world where anyone who was born with brown hair got to give orders to anyone born with blonde hair. If you're born with brown hair, you could have better careers and the better education whereas the blondes wouldn’t even been given a fair court trial. If something like this happened overnight, there would be a huge uproar, but what if it happened over time and generations grew to accept it? Eventually, people would start to argue that brown haired people were naturally superior to blondes. If you were living in a tiny town in the Deep South, such as Maycomb, you’d have even less of a reason to question the status quo. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird is trying to teach his kids, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Furthermore, the largest forms of discrimination in the novel are racism and classism.
The story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays many different scenarios of racial discrimination. Discrimination occurs in the book and many people are affected by the racial slurs and other occurrences. In the story, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson are all people that are discriminated against or are affected by discrimination. Racial discrimination is a major part of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Discrimination based on religion was targeted by the Radley family. According to To Kill A Mockingbird, “Foot-washers believe anything that’s pleasure is a sin… sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of—oh, of your father.” (Lee 59). Miss Maudie explains to Scout through the comparison of an alcoholic to a religious extremist that Mrs. Radley takes the bible too literally and targets others for not following the same religious views as her. Miss Maudie describes her as a foot-washer Baptist because Mrs. Radley sees people that enjoy being outdoors and women being independent like Miss Maudie. Discrimination against the Radley’s is also present in the novel. The Radley’s don’t attend church on Sundays
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
Racism has always been a controversial topic in history. All people face racism, no matter what race you are, and it’s an injustice. Racism is a major issue in today’s society, because … THESIS STATEMENT
"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones"- Charlotte Brontë. Nearly every problem and unfortunate mishap in Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been somehow revolved around prejudice or discrimination. Many different forms of prejudice are found throughout the novel, with racism, sexism, and classicism the most common. The residents of Maycomb have discrimination running through their veins and were raised to be racist and sexist, without realizing. They see nothing wrong with judging other people and treating people that they find inferior harshly. Prejudice is a destructive force because it separates the people of Maycomb, both physically and mentally.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
“There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and there’s the negroes.” (Lee 258).When Jem proclaimed this social idea to Scout in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it showed how much of an influence the different economic classes have on the people of Maycomb County. In the novel, Scout and Jem Finch are raised by their father Atticus, a lawyer who is very respectful and understanding. Atticus’ outlook on life is shown when he accepts the Cunningham’s payment in things grown from their farm instead of money, when Atticus helped them with an entailment. The Finch children are also raised with the help of Calpurnia, the family’s African American cook, and spend the summer with their best friend Dill Harris. Dill comes to
Discrimination and Prejudice in Killing A Mocking Bird Discrimination and prejudice were very common acts in the early and middle 1900's. Prejudice in this book is displayed by the acts of hate and misunderstanding because of someone's color. People of color were the majority that were treated unfairly. During this time in the southern states, black people had to use separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, sections in restaurants, churches, and even go to separate schools. Although much of the discrimination was directed towards blacks, there were plenty of accounts towards impoverished families by those that had money.
The hatred that the citizens of Maycomb felt towards the black community extended to anyone who became involved with them, especially the Finch family because Atticus was appointed to defend Tom Robinson. Scout and Jem suffered the most from this hatred because their peers were children, who are nearly always less candid than adults. Most of the people who were unhappy with Atticus would just try to keep away from him, which was bad enough. The children however, verbally abused Scout and Jem. Scout responded to this with physical violence, even though it was discouraged by her father. The sad thing is that they were mistreated even by members of their family, like Scout’s cousin Francis.
In what looked like a good day for the rookie teacher, it quickly turned into complete disarray and a total adversity trip for the teacher. Walter Cunningham, being raised in a very hard working environment, was taught not to take what he could not pay back. The teacher obviously did not know about his background in the most minute way and embarrassed him extensively by almost demanding that he take some lunch money. Knowing that he could not pay Miss Caroline back in the way that she had in mind, he knew that he could take the money he wanted to take so badly. Walter eventually ended up eating with the Finch.
Pre-existing discrimination against African-Americans, lynching mobs, and Jim Crow laws are just a few aspects that fueled racism throughout the 20th century. Black and white people who lived in the same communities were forced to be separated because of a poisonous mindset that engulfed America. Because To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s, racism is a pressing issue in the community. It plays a role in most aspects of the townspeople’s lives. Racism causes Jem and Scout to act violently towards prejudice, people in the black community to feel ostracized, and the legal system to be unfair.