Racism Essay, Research Paper

No one can escape it, whether your skin is black, white, or somewhere in the middle. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, racism is brought up and discussed through metaphors and through the actions of its characters. During the 1930s, in Maycomb, Alabama, where the novel takes place, many examples of racism are displayed and dealt with. Racism is exhibited throughout To Kill A Mockingbird such as when Calpurnia s influence is not enough, when Tom Robinson goes on a hopeless trial, and when the two children get their own dose of racism at a Negro church.

Calpurnia has raised the children quite well in their few years. Aunt Alexandra is a proper woman who feels that every child should have a proper feminine influence. The two children do need a strong female influence, and truthfully already have one, but Aunt Alexandra deems Calpurnia s influence as inadequate. Aunt Alexandra moves in with the family to become the suitable female parent, but only through her eyes. Calpurnia has done a wonderful job with the children, and Aunt Alexandra cannot accept that fact because Calpurnia is black. Calpurnia is a Negro, and thus is below Aunt Alexandra, a prim and proper white woman, and it is thus hard for Aunt Alexandra to believe that Calpurnia can do something right. Calpurnia could have raised the most properly mannered children in the world, and it would mean nothing to Aunt Alexandra, because no matter how perfect Calpurnia does something, it will never be good enough. Calpurnia does not necessarily suffer through this, but many blacks under the pressure of racism do.

The case of a lifetime was black and white in more ways than one. Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping MayElla Ewell, a white woman. The race issue in this case was so apparent that without question, or doubt Tom Robinson was charged and arrested. MayElla was injured, and a black man is automatically convicted. This particular case ended soon, but never truly began. Without witnesses, it was a white woman s word against a black man s word, and it was black and white as the final verdict. Tom Robinson and the entire city of Maycomb went into this trial knowing that this black man would perish. The story of Tom Robinson and is case is sad, but does not give room to believe that prejudice with race is not isolated to Negroes.

Jem and Scout are invited with Calpurnia to her church, which is, contrary to their normal church, full of blacks. Upon entering the church, Jem and Scout were acknowledged with a derogatory comment about how white children should be at their own church. The whites pressured the Negroes for so long with separation and isolation with no integration, that this particular woman became accustomed to the disconnection. This poor woman had already assumed that Jem and Scout were there to make the black people feel bad. However, the difference between the black and the whites…Jem and Scout were finally accepted into the church. Eventually, the congregation sat quietly and the whispers were bestilled. If only everyone could forgive and forget as easy, the world would be a better place.

Racism is a formidable foe in the game we play called life. If perhaps the racism has toned down, then joy to the world, however, it has only gotten worse. Before, there were no gang wars; there were no racism law cases. The blacks were the blacks; yes they were looked down upon for that reason, even by the government, but at least now, the law is on their side. The Negroes are no different from the whites. They work the same, talk the same, walk the same, and help support our economy the same. Without them, our world would perish, just as if the Mexicans perished, or the whites perished. Our ultimate goal in life is to live and to survive, if we spend all of this time worried about what our skin color is, we cannot live life to the fullest, and help each other to do the same