Racial prejudice in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and American society

¶ … growing number of diverse groups has continued to increase since World War II. With that, it is obvious that the United States is more accepting of different groups of people. However, during the 1930's, there was complete racism against blacks, which can be seen in the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird." "Prejudice: Prejudice runs rampant in Maycomb county. ex1. The town has prejudice against blacks. This is seen in the case against Tom Robinson. It is obvious that he is innocent through evidence presented by Atticus (Bob Ewell is left handed, Tom's left hand is useless, etc.)but since the jury "cannot" find a black man innocent over a white family they find him guilty. Prejudice against boo Radley. No one bothers to find out about the real Arthur "boo" Radley. He may seem a little scary but the town ridicules him and shuns him from society. All the children have been raised to fear him as the town freak. If they took the time to see the world from his eyes they might not be so prejudiced to his situation (Title: To Kill a Mockingbird). From there, it is very clear that racism has changed to a positive aspect of diversity since the time period of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Towns people

Along with that, in the story, the towns people treated blacks as if they were lower class and they had no importance in society. For example, even though the jury found Tom innocent in their own minds, they could not believe him over a white family, which led him to be guilty of the crime that he did not commit. The only thing that Tom was guilty of was being black during that period, which would not likely happen today due to America's diversity and laws that gives everyone equal rights ("To Kill a Mockingbird" (Bloom's Guides).

Robinson vs. White Society: As another "mockingbird," of the story, Robinson is wrongly accused, and loses his life due to the racism of the community. Even though it is obvious, to every person in the jury, that Robinson could not have committed the crime, and that he is an upright and religious churchgoing man, he is still accused of rape, and jailed (Title: To Kill a Mockingbird).

From there, in modern society, blacks are still accused of crimes that they most likely did not commit.

However, within modern society, it is clear that they are not automatically accused since research has proven that surveys may be biased. Evidence has shown that researchers examine the correlations between race and crime, as well as the discrimination that occurs when classification of crimes and its perpetrators come into account.(Knepper, 2000, p. 15) There is however not an objective definition of race given. Knepper continues to express that current statistical methods are not accurate nor due they portray the proper picture of current criminals and their circumstances. Knepper questions the idea of whether or not African-Americans do in fact show a higher instance of criminality than others do, or are the statistics biased and skewed in nature. He concludes that there are currently four officials races used for classification: White, black, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian and Pacific Islander and two official ethnic groups: Hispanic origin and not of Hispanic origin.

Conclusion

Along with that, within the book, "To Kill a Mockingbird, "racism is very apparent but it seems that children are given the concept of diversity throughout the story through different characters." Different degrees of maturity are displayed by the characters of the novel. ex1. Atticus. One might say he is an adult and therefore mature. This is a very irrational statement because there are many adults that have no hint of maturity. His view is very enlightened for a white southern man in the thirties. He shows his mature and enlightened views in the court room while defending Tom Robinson. He doesn't take Tom's defense lightly because he's black but tries hard to with his case. He also shows how mature he is in the way he treats and raises his children. The life lessons and the free thought that are exchanged show his maturity and understanding in bringing up scout and Jem. ex2. Scout. She shows a maturity level that is advanced for her age. This is due not only to her free spirit and intelligent approach to experiences but from the teachings of Atticus. She constantly asks questions and truly cares about important issues such as reading" (Title: To Kill a Mockingbird).

Along with that, racism through this story had created the concept of diversity, which is now in modern society.