Growing Number of Diverse Groups

¶ … 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.

Scout's father

Along with that, Scout's father tried to teach him from right and wrong, which included the treatment of others that are different. Furthermore, he taught his son that society is not always right in what they believe. With that, racism is wrong because everyone is a human being and deserves equal rights. Even though America has racism in today's modern society, there are more people like Scout's father who honestly believes in diversity (120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature).

Don't attack something if it hasn't harmed you: This lesson is taught to Jem and Scout by Atticus when he teaches them about the mockingbird. He says that the mockingbird is innocent and only sings for you. It is therefore wrong to kill it. The examples of the mockingbird within the novel are Tom and Boo. Tom was attacked by the entire white society in Maycomb County. These attacks and accusations destroyed his innocent, respectable life. Arthur "Boo" Radley was also an innocent victim to the taunts and of the people of the county. Because of their aversion to his life they separated him from any chance of leading a normal life (Title: To Kill a Mockingbird).

After Boo saves the children, Scout sees that her father was correct, which taught her about the concept diversity. Furthermore, this incident also teaches the other children to look pass skin color and see a friend, neighbor, or hero which the tone of today's modern society.

After Boo saves the children's lives, Scout can direct her sympathy toward a real person, not a spectral presence. Because of this last encounter with Boo, she learns firsthand about sacrifice and mercy, as well as the more general lesson that Atticus has been trying to teach her: "You never understand a person until you consider things from his point-of-view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (Novels for students).

Conclusion