Tom Robinson’s Conviction in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is an almost faultless representation of how the “white” word dominated the “black” word in the South. The novel shows that a white person’s word, no matter how faulted, was more readily accepted than any black person’s word. Allowing a “Negro’s” word to be accepted over “white” word would make southern society less secure in its assumed superiority.
The southern “superiority” over Negroes had existed since the time of the slave trade and continued after the emancipation, out of fear. As long as Negroes were considered “property,” they were protected by their “value.” Following the abolition of legal slavery, their economic protection vanished, and the southern white population feared their infiltration with society. Out of fear came hate in the white southern community. Organizations reflecting their hate were created, such as the Ku Klux Klan. Lynchings, unjustified convictions, and severe economic oppression were all part of Negro-life in the south between 1925-1935.
With the Stock Market Crash in October of 1929 the United States suffered severe economic depression. With the closing of many mills and plants, unemployment skyrocketed. The economic collapse was painful to all communities, but to the blacks of the South who were already severely oppressed, it was devastating. Farming communities, which were already in a depression before the crash, went hungry and rarely had surplus crop to sell for profit. Crop prices fell nearly 50% between 1929 and 1930. During the depression it was nearly impossible for blacks to find work because unemployed whites were chosen over blacks no matter what their qualific...
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...ession, and Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is an accurate example of how the historic South treated blacks with severe prejudice.
Works Cited
Carter, Dan T. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1969.
Chalmers, Allan K. They Shall Be Free. Garden City: Doubleday & Company,
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Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Warner Books, 1960.
Ransdell, Hollace. "The First Scottsboro Trials (April, 1931) ."
The First Scottsboro Trials (April, 1931). 27 May 1931. American Civil Liberties Union. 11 March 2001.
<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_HRrep.html#REPORT ON THE SCOTTSBORO, ALA.>.
Vassel, Olive. "The Scottsboro Boys." The Scottsboro Boys. . AFRO-Americ@.
11 March 20001. <http://www.afroam.org/history/scott/scotts.html>.
The population of African Americans from 1865 to 1900 had limited social freedom. Social limitations are limitations that relate “…to society and the way people interact with each other,” as defined by the lesson. One example of a social limitation African Americans experienced at the time is the white supremacy terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan or the KKK. The KKK started as a social club formed by former confederate soldiers, which rapidly became a domestic terrorist organization. The KKK members were white supremacists who’s objective was to ward off African Americans from using their new political power. In an attempts to achieve their objective, Klansmen would burn African American schools, scare and threaten voters, destroy the homes of African Americans and also the homes of whites who supported African American rights. The greatest terror the KKK imposed was that of lynching. Lynching may be defined via the lesson as, “…public hanging for an alleged offense without benefit of trial.” As one can imagine these tactics struck fear into African Americans and the KKK was achiev...
Searle's argument delineates what he believes to be the invalidity of the computational paradigm's and artificial intelligence's (AI) view of the human mind. He first distinguishes between strong and weak AI. Searle finds weak AI as a perfectly acceptable investigation in that it uses the computer as a strong tool for studying the mind. This in effect does not observe or formulate any contentions as to the operation of the mind, but is used as another psychological, investigative mechanism. In contrast, strong AI states that the computer can be created so that it actually is the mind. We must first describe what exactly this entails. In order to be the mind, the computer must be able to not only understand, but to have cognitive states. Also, the programs by which the computer operates are the focus of the computational paradigm, and these are the explanations of the mental states. Searle's argument is against the claims of Shank and other computationalists who have created SHRDLU and ELIZA, that their computer programs can (1) be ascribe...
While an officer cannot tell from simply looking at a driver if the person is licensed, insured, a legal citizen, in possession of drugs or committing some other crime they can tell by looking at the driver or passenger the persons race. As statistics show here police use race to sort out who they want to investigate and who they do not. As a consequence, every member of specified groups become potential victims of racial profiling. In a country where civil rights have been disputed for well over 100 years it is a tragedy that we can still not find equal treatment for all men within the governing law of the land
In the early twentieth century, the United States was undergoing a dramatic social change. Slavery had been abolished decades before, but the southern states were still attempting to restrict social interaction among people of different races. In particular, blacks were subject to special Jim Crow laws which restricted their rights and attempted to keep the race inferior to whites. Even beyond these laws, however, blacks were feeling the pressure of prejudice. In the legal system, blacks were not judged by a group of their peers; rather, they were judged by a group of twelve white men. In serious court cases involving capital offenses, the outcome always proved to be a guilty verdict. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot revolves around a Depression-era court case of a black man accused of raping a white woman. The defendant Tom Robinson is presumed guilty because of one thing alone: the color of his skin.
Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. The American Civil Liberties Union, defines racial profiling as "the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin"(Racial Profiling: Definition). Using this definition we can determine that racial profiling excludes any evidence of wrong-doing and relies solely on the characteristics listed above. We can also see that racial profiling is different from criminal profiling, which uses evidence of wrong-doing and facts which can include information obtained from outside sources and evidence gathered from investigation. Based on these definitions, I will show that racial profiling is unfair and ineffective because it relies on stereotyping, encourages discrimination, and in many cases can be circumvented.
My name is Tom Robinson. I lived on the outskirts of Maycomb Country with my wife, Helen, and kids. I worked on Mr. Link Deas's farm as a work hand. He hired me even though I'm a Negro and have a crippled arm; he's a very nice man. Every day on the way to work, I would pass the Ewell's home. They're a white family that lived by the dump. Sometimes I would pass by and help their oldest girl, Mayella, with some of their yard work. None of her younger brothers or sisters seem to help, so I liked to help her. I just thought it was the right thing for me to do, besides, I felt sorry for her. One day, Mayella says that she has something for me to do inside the house. None of the kids were around though, and I got kind of worried. When Mayella shut the door behind me and started kissing me, I knew I was in trouble. I started to push her away when her daddy, Bob, saw us through the window. I knew I was in trouble then, even though none of it was my fault, I was still black and it would be my fault if anyone caught me. When he opened the door, I just started to run. I don't know if Mayella was beaten by her father, but all I knew was I had to run. I ran all the way home, as fast as lighting. I told Helen about everything and she said it would all be okay. But Mr. Ewell had already called Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff, and said that I had that I had raped and beaten Mayella. I knew that I could be killed on this charge, and I got really nervous. I wondered why everyone believed Mr. Ewell's lies. I couldn't have beaten up Mayella, I only have one good arm! The other one was torn up in a cotton gin when I was a little boy. But when they assigned Atticus Finch to be my lawyer for a trial, I put my soul to rest. Mr. Finch would take care of me no matter what he said. People in town were upset though. They said Mr.
Racial Profiling is law enforcement and private security practices that disproportionately target people of color for investigation and enforcement. Racial Profiling occurs across the United States and an overwhelming number of Hispanics and African Americans, including children, are being stopped. Some may say “racial profiling is an ineffective and degrading practice that violates civil rights” while others say that it is “necessary to counter terrorism and reduce crime.” In my opinion, stop and frisk is unfair and against citizens constitutional rights therefore, making it illegal and horrible, but I do believe it’s a tactic taken by police to ensure no crimes are happening and it is also an effective way to counter terrorism. Everyone is created equally and should be treated equally. I believe Police should not stop someone based upon their race unless, suspicious behavior occurs.
Racism has been evident all around America, even before this country was officially created over two hundred years ago. Prejudice and racism are not uncommon words in American history, because many disputes, such as war and protests, have emerged from the topic of race. This has been a common practice in the past, and is still a common practice today. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the effects of racism are shown in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. The effects of racism were very cruel during this time, and Harper Lee reflected this through characters, such as Atticus, Jem, Scout, Mrs. Dubose, Aunt Alexandra, and Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Tragically, however, very few of these goals were achieved. It seems as if every time the African Americans manage to move one step closer to reaching true equality among the Southern whites, whether it be in a social, political, or economic fashion, the whites always react by committing violent acts against them. Initially, the Southern whites (in fear of black supremacy in Southern politics) fought to preserve the white supremacy Southern politics had always functioned by. This “ushered most African Americans to the margins of the southern political world” (Brinkley, 369). Secondly, African Americans struggled to survive once they were set free; they had nowhere to live and nothing to eat. Because of such reasons, most former slaves decided to remain living on their plantations as tenants, paying their tenancy by working the crop fields. Sadly, even this failed for the African Americans due to the birth of the crop-lien system. Lastly, the Southern whites counteracted the effects of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments by establishing the Jim Crow laws, which aided them with upholding, if not increasing, the steady level of segregation in the South. Ultimately, out of the very few accomplishments made by the African American population during and following the Era of Reconstruction, there existed one achievement significant enough to change the course of American history: the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. As a result of these amendments, “would one day serve as the basis for a “Second Reconstruction” that would renew the drive to bring freedom to all Americans” (Brinkley,
Today, the United States is considered to be one of the most diverse countries in the world with regards to its citizens being of a different race and ethnic background other than white, but sadly this was not always the case. During the post-emancipation era, also known as the period of “redemption” for southern whites, was a time of great racial violence and hate from most white individuals, typically farm and plantation owners, towards the newly freed slaves emancipated after the civil war, which of whom were predominantly black. Right before the civil war, society was separated into two racial hierarchies: white, and black. If an individual was of any color other than white they were labeled as a slave and considered someone’s, referring to white slave owners, property. After the civil war America’s social lifestyle and overall government changed dramatically due to the emancipation of slaves in the south. When African Americans were emancipated the idea and concept that was once accepted, any individual other than white is considered to be insubordinate and a slave, was now abolished and considered inhumane. This caused a major disruption within society because former slave owners lost huge amounts of manpower that use to work and generate profit by making enslaved individuals farm their land. As a result, once wealthy farmers and plantation owners became the poorest of poor with no one to work their fields and no money to even hire anyone because of post-war fees that needed to be paid. With that being said, African Americans are considered now to be citizens of the United States but sadly were not treated equally by their white peers till the Civil Rights Act (1964); and from the time of reconstruction through the period of...
Banning a book on the basis of profanity is merely a superficial reason of those who wish to limit beliefs that do not coincide with their own. By excluding a novel from a high school curriculum in order to shelter students from profanity, is an attempt to do the impossible. Profanity is found everywhere. According to TV Guide, "Profanity is uttered once every six minutes on American primetime television...
This issue should be addressed among police agencies across the country in order to stop racial profiling. Racial profiling has its negative impacts that discomfort and humiliation of many minority citizens. There are many shameful cases that officers have been a part of in not a such good way. It has become such a huge problem. Racial profiling has to be stop in every way there is, is humiliating to see and is strongly unjust. Many innocent people in this nation are killed for crimes not even done by them but are killed or punished because of the race they appear to be. Unfortunately, being racially profiled in the United States is bound to happen to many minorities; however, that doesn 't allow the acceptance of people doing it. Everyone has different opinions on Racial Profiling, but it is something that should come to an end, and many should speak up about being racially
The novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee has numerous accounts of racism and prejudice throughout the entire piece. The novel is set in the 1930's, a time when racism was very prevalent. Although bigotry and segregation were pointed in majority towards blacks, other accounts towards whites were also heard of, though not as commonly. There are acts that are so discreet that you almost don't catch them, but along with those, there are blatant acts of bigotry that would never occur in our time. Lee addresses many of these feelings in her novel.
“To Kill A Mockingbird” is marvelous and unforgettable novel. Not only show how dramatic, sad in and old town – Maycomb be like, but through her unique writings, some big conflicts about politics and critical is going on through this tired old Southern town. Not just in general like education, friendship, neighbors but also pacific in individuals like family and the people’s characteristics themselves. In one book yet can covered with such many problems, Harper Lee must have been experienced a lot and deeply understanding that time. That is why the book lives, becoming literature and get the love from the audiences a lot. One of the problem and mostly run along with the story and interest me is racism between white people and black people socially.
The definition of racial profiling, “refers to the practice of singling out individuals, solely based on their race or ethnicity, for questioning, investigation, arrest or detainment” and is so clearly a mistreatment of power, racial profiling is nonetheless legal in most states and not much is being done to stop it. For this crime to stop completely, we have to recognize the crime and make laws to stand against racial