Jeremy Bell

April 1st, 2016

Honors Written and Oral Composition

Kale

Its Changed for the Better

In Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird, the racism of the south in the 1930s is brought to

light. Scout Finch reflects on her view of the trial of Tom Robinson an African American accused

of rape. Her father, Atticus defends Tom in court showing Scout and her brother Jem the full

extent of the southern racism. In comparison to the 1930s, relations between races today have

greatly improved although there is always room for improvement.

During the height of segregation and racial discrimination in the 1930s, African

Americans and other minorities were believed to be inferior. Many African Americans were

treated poorly and like Tom Robinson were convicted of crime they did not commit, simply

because they have more melanin in their skin. This is extremely evident in the text, when Atticus

talks to the children about the jurys verdict when its a white mans word against a black mans,

the white man always wins (Lee 252). This is clearly showing the bias of the jury, favoring a

Caucasian compared to an African American. After being shown how its next to impossible for

Tom Robinson to have committed the crime as it was reported, he is still convicted of rape.

Atticus is evidently very understanding and is trying to get the children to stand up for what is

right and put a stop to segregation. Another race issue during the 1930s had to do with

interracial relationships. Atticus during closing arguments says Mayella was white and tempted

[an African American] and She kissed [an African American] (Lee 204). Interracial couples
were heavily frowned upon and were not socially acceptable during this time. Mayella would be

disowned by her father and would become an outcast if this was a full relationship. Instead, he

stopped it before it came anything and beat his daughter then gets the unwilling partner killed.

Dolphus Raymond, a Caucasian man who hangs out with African Americans is seen as different

and evil by the city for associating with African Americans. Scout thinks of him as a evil man

and she didnt think Atticus would like it if we became friendly (Lee 200). To make people

not like him, he acts like a drunk but doesnt drink. He says its to try to give them a reason [to

dislike me] (Lee 200). Hes not concerned about how the other people feel about him, only

about being himself. This is interesting as it was widely socially unacceptable at this time and

puts him in the exact same shoes as Mayella. Mayella can not do what Dolphus does because of

her father. This makes it clear that in these times, minorities of all kinds were discriminated

against and treated poorly by most Caucasians. Some were sympathetic while most hated them.

Presently relationships between races have greatly improved with legal protections in

regards to race, and also changes to societys view of minorities. According to 2014s Uniform

Crime Report on Hate Crimes, 43.8% of reported hate crimes in the United States were because

of race. There were 1,621 reported incidents with 2,022 reported victims. (Hate Crime Table 1).

The African American population at the 2010 Census was nearly 38 million. The fact that only

2,022 African Americans of nearly 38 million were victims of a hate crime, shows that many

African Americans are not having their civil rights violated. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964

and 1968, minorities are no longer segregated. However, some people will always hold

prejudice. African Americans, are more likely to be killed by another person who is African

American than any other race. According the the Uniform Crime Report on Homicides 6,095
African Americans were victims of Homicide (Expanded Homicide Data Table 1 (2014) and

2,205 African Americans were killed by other African Americans (not including incidents where

the race of the victim or offender were not know) (Expanded Homicide Data Table 6 (2014). At

least a third of African American homicides were by other African Americans. Of known

offenders, only 187 homicides were Caucasian on African American crimes. Its absurd to say

that many African Americans are being killed by Caucasians, when at least a third of homicides

are committed by other African Americans. There isnt a divide on Africans Americans being

killed by Caucasians, but rather other African Americans killing each other. Times have

drastically changed since the 1930s. An actual accused rape case in Alabama, which resulted in

2 US Supreme Court rulings, and was tried 4 times resulting in a guilty conviction each time was

recently brought back into the news. In 2013, all that hadnt been pardoned for their crimes

already, received posthumous pardons from the Alabama State Board of Pardons and Parole. The

assistant director of the board said that the pardons remedied a wrongdoing of social and racial

injustice (Watkins) This case was one of many that influenced the author to write the book. If

there wasnt racism back then, they never wouldve gotten the pardon. Time has changed as all 9

have now been pardoned or had their charges dropped. Seeing as African Americans are more

likely to kill each other, hate crimes against African Americans are a relatively small amount

considering their population, and states are going in an effort to fix the wrongs of their past show

that times have gotten better compared to the 1930s.

Thankfully, racism has decreased from the levels of the 1930s. During the 1930s,

tensions between the races were high as shown in To Kill a Mockingbird. African Americans

could be convicted off of very little evidence and interracial couples were widely not accepted in
the peak of segregation. People may argue that racism hasnt improved, based upon police

shootings recently. This is not the case, as many police related shootings are ruled justifiable. Its

clear that racism has decreased since the 1930s, and is not as much as a problem as many think it

to be. However, relations between races can always be improved to create a stronger bond.
 Jeremy Bell

April 12th, 2016

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Honors Written and Oral Composition

Kale

Works Cited

United States of America. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Criminal Justice Information

Services Division. Expanded Homicide Data Table 1. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
United States of America. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Criminal Justice Information
Services Division. Expanded Homicide Data Table 6. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
United States of America. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Criminal Justice Information
Services Division. Incidents and Offenses. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
United States of American. Federal Bureau of Investigations. Criminal Justice Information
Services Division. Table 5. N.p., 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Watkins, Tom, and Marlena Baldacci. "Posthumous Pardons in 1931 Scottsboro Boys Rape
Cases." CNN. Cable News Network, 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1988. Print.