Racism in Court Systems Through the 1960s
Even after slavery was abolished, court systems were particularly bad at providing fair trials to African American individuals. This tradition of discrimination is apparent in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird; though Atticus Finch attempted to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape, he was no match for the racist mindset of the jury members. A similar occurrence is found in the trial of Emmett Till. In addition, the legal system allowed and even supported the concept of “separate but equal”, an idea developed to suppress African Americans. This behaviorism is a result of a phenomenon dubbed the inferiority complex, which was demonstrated in various experiments created by Kenneth Clark.
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Tom Robinson was accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. Miss Ewell was placed on one of the lowest rungs of the social ladder. Though she was from a poor, uneducated, and abusive family, she was still placed above Robinson because of her race. One day, Mayella offered Tom five cents to cut up an old dresser. While Tom was assisting Mayella , she attempted to kiss him, and he fled the scene. After Mr. Robinson left, Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, beat her and proceeded to claim she had been raped. During the trial, the prosecution presented no physical evidence: it was simply her word against his. Atticus Finch, a white man serving as Tom’s lawyer, even proved that he could not have beat her; all of her bruises were on the right side of her face, which he could not easily hit, as his left arm had been deformed in an accident. However, even Mr. Finch knew he was fighting a battle he was destined to lose; he stated that "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (Lee 295). Atticus was also quoted as saying "the one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box." (Lee 295). Mr. …show more content…
Emmett was a fourteen year old African American boy from Chicago visiting his family in Mississippi. He was accused of whistling at a white woman in a local store. A few days after the incident, two white men kidnapped and brutally murdered him. When these men were put on trial, they were identified by Emmett’s uncle as the men who entered his house. In addition, an eyewitness stated that he saw several men take Till into a barn and heard screams. Despite the clear evidence, the jury deliberated for a mere hour before returning a not guilty verdict; the men were aquitted and released. A few months later, the two men confessed to the murder in an interview. This case displayed the amount of prejudice in the legal system during this time period, sparking many protests from both African American and white individuals. The court system in Mississippi sent a clear message that numerous southerners had not changed their mindset from the times of slavery, despite the passing of ninety years since the 13th amendment had been
“[T]here is one way in this country in which all men are created equal- there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller; the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president. That institution, gentlemen, is a court” (Lee 233). These are the words uttered by Atticus Finch, an important character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer, and at this point in the novel, he is trying to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who was accused of raping a white woman. This reflects upon how society was in the 1930’s, when the color of your skin affected your chances of winning a trial. In fact, it is speculated that To Kill a Mockingbird is loosely based off of the trials of the Scottsboro Boys, a famous case from this time period. Most of the main characters associated with both trials share similar traits, experiences, and backgrounds.
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Emmett Till was a 14 year old boy visiting Money,Mississippi from Chicago, Illinois in 1955. He whistled, flirted, and touched a white woman who was working at a store where Emmett Till was purchasing bubble gum. A day later Till was abducted at gunpoint from his great uncle’s house. 3 days after that Till’s body was found, unrecognizable other than a ring he had on. He was unprepared for the intense segregation of Mississippi.The death of this young boy then sparked a movement to end the inequality of African Americans in the United States.
Emmett Till was a young boy who lived in Chicago and was not used to all the racial issues in the South because he did not have to face them until he went to a small town in Mississippi to visit his uncle. He soon realized just how different the South really was. Emmett and a few friends went to a white-owned store, and on the way out he was dared by his friends to whistle at the white lady running the store. Later that day, Sunday, August 28, 1955, he was taken from his uncle's home by the lady's husband and was shot, beaten, and with a 270 pound weight tied to his neck, thrown in the Tallahatchie River. A few days later Till was found in the river by a boy fishing from the shore. The woman's husband J.W. Bryant and his brother-in-law Roy Milam were charged with kidnapping and murder. The trial was held in a segregated court house on September 23, 1955. The all-white jury found Bryant and Milam not guilty. Emmett Till lost his life for something that he did not think was wrong; he was a good ...
Mayella (white), goes to court against Tom Robinson (African American), where Mayella is accusing Tom Robinson of rape. When Atticus asks Mayella questions, Atticus mishears Mayella. An example of Mayella’s lack of power is when Atticus closes his argument by describing Mayella’s injuries during the court case. “Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left.”
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
He points out evidence that the attacker was left-handed due to the bruise being on the right side of Mayella’s face. In addition, Atticus showed the audience and the jury that Bob Ewell was clearly left-handed from writing his name on paper and that Tom Robinson had a disabled left arm. Atticus then cross-examines Tom Robinson about what happened on the day he raped Mayella. He asked Tom why he was on the Ewell’s property. He answered that Mayella wanted help with a door and then tried to kiss Tom. Tom tried to get out and said Bob was going to kill Mayella. He concluded with saying he did not rape Mayella Ewell. Atticus provides a closing argument that this case should had never come to court because there was not enough direct evidence to prove Tom Robinson guilty. Atticus concludes that all men should be created equal and instructs the jury to “review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty”. The prosecutor, Mr. Horace Gilmer, helped the jury make a decision which would ultimately end the trial in Maycomb
Despite the unwavering dedication of Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the absence of evidence, and a moving courtroom speech, Tom Robinson is convicted of a crime that he did not commit. What would have been the outcome if Tom Robinson's trial was held in the 21st century? A jury today, presented with the same evidence, would find Tom Robinson not guilty. Atticus did a good job and proved that Tom could not have beaten Mayella because his left arm was injured. The only eye witness was Mayella, whose own statements were conflicting; she claimed that Tom both did and did not assault her. Her testimony also differed from that of her father. There was never any specific testimony concerning the rape, only assault. The prosecutor would never have been allowed to repeatedly refer to Tom as "boy" during this trial with the lack of tolerance held for racism in today’s society. The most obvious form of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism; however, there are other types of prejudice and discrimination that typify relationships among the novel’s characters.
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.
In addition, Tom Robinson is a black man who was accused of raping 19 year old Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch bravely and courageously took on the case even though he got the idea that it would take a miracle to win. By taking on the Tom Robinson case, it proved that Atticus was not a follower which separated himself from the rest of the town. During the trial, Atticus says, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” (Lee 274). Atticus is referring to his beliefs and how they are legitimate. He stands up for righteousness and justice rather than the majority. Additionally, Atticus believes that violence is not the appropriate answer. He wants his children to keep their fists down and heads up in every situation they encounter. In other words, the event with Mrs. Dubose was very meaningful. Mrs. Dubose is an old lady who lives two doors up the street from the Finch 's house. Atticus ' son, Jem destroyed Mrs. Dubose 's flowers because she had said disrespectful things about Atticus which brought out Jem 's anger. Even though Atticus was very upset, he does not believe violence is the appropriate
While visiting family in Money, Mississippi, Emmett was brutally murdered for flirting with a white woman. His attackers, the white woman’s husband and her brother, made Emmitt carry a 75-pound cotton-gin to the bank of the Tallahatchie River and made him take off his clothes. The two men then beat him to an inch of his life, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire, into the river. Three days later, his body was discovered but was beaten beyond recognition that it was identified by a ring he wore from his father. Two weeks later, the men went on trial for the murder and on September 23, the all-white jury reached the verdict of “not guilty,” explaining that they believed the state had failed to prove the identity of the body. Many people around the country were outraged by the decision and also by the state’s decision not to indict the two men on the separate charge of kidnapping. Several weeks later, the men sold the real story to the newspapers, confessing that they really did murder Emmett Till and went into vast detail of how they carried out the crime (The Death of Emmett Till). Emmett Till did not get a fair trial and justice because of the color of his skin. The men accused got off on the charges because of the “all-white” jury and the discrimination
Appalled by these realizations, Jem makes his mind up on his own and is utterly distraught when he sees the outcome of the trial and the fate that Tom Robinson has, regardless of his innocence. His crying and stubbornness leads Atticus to say “… 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, that white man is trash” (Lee 295). Using kind words fit for a young boy of Jem’s age, Atticus Finch carefully describes how a white man, specifically Bob Ewell, in a community like their own has a false sense of superiority. The white men think they are better than those with more melanin in their skin and seize every opportunity to make themselves look more important and grander than those with dark skin. Bob Ewell exemplified this perfectly when he used the fact that Tom Robinson was a black man to cover up the repeated rapes of his daughter because he knew the town was believe every word he uttered, no matter how ridiculous or impossible it seemed. This led to the ultimate conclusion that Tom Robinson was guilty of rape when all facts proved that is was almost impossible for him to do the accused deeds described by the Ewells. While Harper Lee expertly expresses how the characters are influenced and affected by racial inequality and the tension that ensues, the story of Ahmed Mohamed provides a non-fiction example of dissimilarity due to one’s
These injustices have begun long before Tom’s trial, but it is his trial which epitomizes the problems with our society. The first witness was simply just a misguided fellow named Heck Tate who it seems didn’t have much to offer to the case. Next, Atticus Finch called Bob Ewell to the stand. When I saw Ewell take the stand such a fierce hatred rose within me that I began to shake and tremble. Ewell wrongfully accused Tom of raping his daughter Mayella, however, with the grace of God, Atticus Finch had shown that it was very possible that it was Bob Ewell who because he was a lefty could have beat Mayella. If it were not for great men like Atticus Finch I would have lost all hope for this world. As I watched Mayella take the stand I wondered how such a kind looking person could be someone of such poor character. Her words seemed to paint a picture of a sad life; one where a father neglects her and she has fallen under hard times. Atticus, after pointing out it was probably Bob who beat her, asked Mayella who it really was that beat her. Mayella made it clear it was Tom Robinson, upon which Atticus asked Tom to stand. To the astonishment of the court Tom was handicapped! Tom was then called to the stand where he laid open for all to see the truth, explaining that it was Mayella who came on to him (that treacherous woman!). Soon enough the trial ended and every one awaited the verdict of the jury. The next few hours were the most nerve wracking of my life.
First, Tom, formally known as Thomas Robinson was a black man who worked for a man named Link Deas. Tom was 25 years old, had three children and a wife named Helen. When he was 11 years old Tom’s left arm was caught in a cotton gin and he lost feeling in his left arm. Tom was accused of rape by a white woman named Mayella. Everyone hated him because it didn’t look good for a black man to be accused of raping a white woman. During his trial he had a white lawyer named Atticus, who did his best to prove that Tom was innocent and Mayella and her dad Bob Ewell were lying. Atticus says,”Did you resist her advances?, Mr.Finch, I tried to ‘thout bein ugly to her. I didn’t wanta push her or nothin.” stated Tom(Lee 195). Tom did not want to kiss her but he didn’t
"The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells'. The evidence boils down to you-did-I-didn't. The jury couldn't possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells,'" Atticus solemnly explains this to his brother. First of all, Atticus demonstrates courage when he undertakes the task of defending Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape. Atticus knows he won't win the case and like Mrs. Dubose in her battle against morphine, he is "licked" before he begins. Nevertheless, Atticus knows that Tom is innocent and that he must fight for him, since no one else will. Atticus's strong sense of morality and justice motivates him to defend Tom with vigor and determination, giving it all he's got with one mission in mind. He wants the people of Maycomb town, whether they believe it or not, to hear the truth about Tom, "That boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told"