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Racial disparities in the US judicial system
Racial disparities in the US judicial system
Racial disparities in the US judicial system
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Over all, Mayella is powerful. With race and gender on her side, there is not a single thing Tom Robinson could have done to save himself. But in the society then, it would not matter if Tom Robinson had more power or not. It would still be extremely consequential if they had let a black man win a trial against a white
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
In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, the character Mayella Ewell is powerful based on gender, class and race, some more than others. Mayella is stuck in an issue of her father caught her kissing a full-grown african american male. Now in our time period, interracial relationships and what not are okay, but, in the 1930’s, well… not so much. See in the 1930’s there were these laws called “The Jim Crow Laws”, and they practically prohibited any white male or female to be with an african american male or female, and if these laws were violated, these people would go to jail for almost two years or more. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, is an alcoholic and he abuses his daughter. All Mayella has ever wanted is freedom from her father, and it seems she was willing to take whatever risk she could just to get out. Mayella lives in a small town called Maycomb in Alabama. Nothing goes around that town without everyone knowing. Basically, everybody knows everybody else’s business all the time. The rest of the citizens know how Bob Ewell treats his daughter, they also know in court that what Mayella did was wrong,
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella possibly demonstrates a woman who is powerful because of her race. Mayella (white), goes to court against Tom Robinson (African American), where Mayella is accusing Tom Robinson of rape. When Atticus is asking Mayella
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, we are presented with various representations of stereotypes involving numerous characters of all ages. Due to specific encounters, we are faced with repeated stereotypical situations. For example, Walter Cunningham is a poor, misunderstood boy who comes from an underestimated family name. Along with the main character Scout, who narrates the story from a young age and finds herself constantly reminded to be the lady she is not. In like manner, Tom Robinson is familiar with the ways of Maycomb, Alabama who easily loses hope with his case of an alleged rape. Walter, Scout and Tom all validate as victims of stereotyping, but from the goodwill within and taking the time to understand someone beforehand,
During the Tom Robinson Trial, Mayella is called up to the chair, asked a few questions and after she has had enough, she screams, "I got somethin ' to say an ' then I ain 't gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an ' if you fine fancy gentlemen don 't wanta do nothin ' about it then you 're all yellow stinkin ' cowards, stinkin ' cowards, the lot of you. Your fancy airs don 't come to nothin '—your ma 'amin ' and Miss Mayellerin ' don 't come to nothin ', Mr. Finch-" (She is scared of the town knowing that she is wrong and Tom robinson is innocent. Mayella uses this case to cover up the shame in her life because she is extremely lonely, has no self-esteem, and overwhelmed with the amount of unhappiness in her life. Mayella gets extremely defensive in this quote because she knows that everything Atticus has brung up is good evidence and she can’t hold her own. In the jury, it was full of all white men. Mayella acted timid and helpless and suggested in her comment that the man of the jury be brave and heroic. She becomes someone who is vulnerable, valuable and needs to be
However, it is understandable that one can argue that Mayella’s two disadvantages trump her one advantage, socially, and make her a less powerful character in the story. Although it can be debated that women were looked at as a minority and class drives a person’s reputation (which can also lead to the amount of power one possesses), this topic’s evidence is irrelevant to the time that this story took place. Maycomb, Alabama was a very small town filled with conservative and stereotypical people who were stuck in their old ways and were very stubborn when it came to changing their ideas. Race was such a social hurdle that no one could overcome, due to it being a physical trait, during the 1930’s. Even if there was a poor, white woman, she would be automatically respected at a higher level than a wealthier black man. If one’s cultural group were to be ignored in this scenario, a wealthier man would have been at a higher advantage compared to a poor woman. However, race played a large role in this society, and during the court case, “(The Ewells had) presented themselves to you gentlemen (the all white jury), to this court… confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption- the evil assumption- that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women.”
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, two characters, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, are both citizens of Maycomb. The metaphor “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” is also repeatedly told to Scout and Jem by the two citizens Atticus Finch and Maudie Atkinson (Lee 19). Many people believe that the mockingbird represents a living being dying because the metaphor refers to killing a live creature. However, if this is the case, the only clear example would be Tom Robinson, and he alone would not represent both Part 1 and Part 2 of the book. Understanding that the mockingbird does not represent a physical death helps the readers view the book in a more open sense, allowing the readers to fully comprehend the book. The metaphor means that it
...uth to fully understand that it is typical to act superior to those with colored skin. All Dill sees is a man being rude to another, just because of his skin color. While Atticus clearly shows everyone in the court that it was almost impossible for Tom Robinson to have beat Mayella, he still loses the case just because he was a black man against a white woman. Lee includes, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 323) This enforces how it didn’t matter what Tom was really doing or why Mayella was screaming, but just by the way Tom looked they were able to essentially pin the rape and the beatings on Tom. Of course this was not true and he did not receive the justice he deserved, but that didn’t matter to Maycomb. All that mattered was the color of his skin and what the teenage white girl named Mayella Ewell said about him.
Have you ever read the book To KIll a Mockingbird by Harper Lee? The book took place in the 1930’s. It’s about a family from Maycomb County and the dad (Atticus) is defending a black man (Tom Robinson). It is important for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson even though it puts himself and his family in danger.
While the novel does take place post-Civil War, racism is still an ever-present factor in America. Slurs such as “nigger” or “negro” are apart of the common vocabulary, such as when Cecil Jacobs says, “That nigger ought to hang from the water tank!” (102). Since the black community is looked down upon, kissing Tom was one of the worst decisions she could make in the public eye. As Atticus explains, “She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man … No code mattered to her before she broke it, but it came crashing down on her afterwards” (272). Even in the judicial system which, by definition, is supposed to serve justice, has the odds stacked against African-Americans. When Atticus expounds upon this unjust bias he says, “When it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (295), rendering Tom Robinson’s trial practically useless. Because of the southern biases against the African American community, Mayella would be ostracized and shunned by society had she revealed her true actions. Everyone strives for acceptance, and will go to many extremes to achieve it, even at the expense of another. Therefore, one must give Mayella sympathy as she was only following her instincts as a
Imagine there are two eggs; one is white, and one is brown. They have the same inside, but their shells are different colors. Discrimination is the equivalent of choosing the white egg over the brown egg, just because it’s appearance. During the time of the Great Depression, African-Americans were treated inadequately based on their skin color, even though the treatment was unethical. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, marginalized characters demonstrate heroic traits effectively despite discrimination of race and social class. Even without major voices, marginalized characters are unlikely heroes that change society’s views by being caring and helpful towards others.
This is extremely evident when you look back into the entire case. The entire white community of the town was against Tom Robinson before the trial even started only based on his race. This creates moral injustice because people today see people judging someone based only on their race is “wrong”. In the time of the story many people saw a case like this as “run of the mill” and average. To almost all people today the case would have went the other way solely based on the lack of evidence and the poor testimonies. For example, Mayella said “No I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me”(185).
Mayella, the woman defending against Robinson, comes from a low income and low educated family, making them a poor family. Yet Mayella’s word is still favored against Tom because she still holds a higher social status than Tom just because she is white. In fact, in the novel, Atticus has an important quote regarding the court system that is still true today, “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.” (Lee, H. (1960). To kill a mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott. pg. 251-252).
Tom Robinson, from Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, was shot. Tom Robinson who was accused a raping a white girl and when put on trial, was found guilty and sentenced to death in prison. He attempted to escape from the prison and when caught by a prison guard, he got shot and he died. But this is not what killed Tom Robinson. Lee hints to the readers who is truly responsible for the death of Tom Robinson. What killed Tom Robinson was the pressure of Maycomb County and their views on how negroes should be treated verse how a white man should be treated. The actions and beliefs of the individuals in Maycomb who is to blame and who is to take responsibility for Tom Robinson’s death.
One of the most important events in the book was Tom Robinson’s trial, which was unfairly judged due to the fact that the jury could not see beyond the color of Tom’s skin. The put their own racist opinions ahead of what is right and just. One of the most important events in the novel circulated around racism. However, the most focused on point of Tom’s life was not the only point in his life where racism has been shown towards him. The Ewell’s are a major source of racism towards Tom. Whenever Mayella Ewell wanted Tom to help her, she was rude to him whereas Tom was very kind to her. Tom was even nice enough to refuse payment of his work for her since he saw that she was poor and realized she needed the money. For his kindness, Tom is returned with bitterness with the only reason for this being because of the color of his skin.