B. C. Straight

Do you wish that there is an utobia to live in, where everything is right and great? The thing is there is non! Every society has black spots, even America . One of its darken spots is racism. The question is not whether there was racism, but to what extent did racism affect American society. A detailed analysis  of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the time period that surrounding it shows that racism affected every aspect of American’s society, including economic, social, and legal.

Economically, African Americans were not poor from the start. They were, back in their country, rich, content, and happy. However, it all changed when they were brought onto American’s soil, where they were forced to work for low payment, or non at all, in other words, they became slaves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, African American were not easily hired, or if they were hire, their payment would be almost nothing compare to White Americans or nothing at all. Sam was an African American girl who was taking care of Mrs. Dubose, a job that I would have to say, I do not want to do, but Sam did it. White Americans here is refer to ‘white only’, while African Americans is refer to the Blacks, or ‘Negroes’—as they were known as. Please do not get confuse. Harper Lee made a mention that Tom Robinson was going to get pay a nickel when he was busting up chiffarobe for Mayella (Lee, 180). Was it a common joke or an inside lie that authors, back than, liked to talk about? Come on, read it again, Tom Robinson was getting a nickel for his work! That is rediculous. A bunny track: In America , now, the minimim wage is $5.50 an hour—a big difference! There was; however, truth in what Lee wrote, “African Americans were kept out of well-paying jobs, jobtraining programs” (Cayton, Perry, Reed, and Winkler (CPRW), 957). Their chances of getting a job seemed to be almost out of mind for they were the last to be hired and the first to be fired, Boorstins included, “Negroes found it hard to borrow money in order to buy houses or farms” (Boorstin, 129;133). It was hard for African Americans to live their day to day lives without facing economic problems.

Researchers at the University of Chicago and Harvard University found that there was widespread discrimination in the workplace against job applicants whose names were merely perceived as ‘sounding black’. They were 50% less likely to receive callbacks for interveiw, no matter their level of previous experince (Racial discrimination). In the mist of this, the income of Southern families was the worst-off in the whole United States , thus African Americans were overal even worse off than anybody (Boorstin, 129). Dispites the Civil Right Movement, African Americans still faced ecominc…discrimination (CPRW, 954). How hard would it be today, if you are paid only a nickel in exchange for your work! Since it is not a retardical question, it would be very hard to pay your bills.

Racism did not only affect American society economically, but socially as well, instead it was used in attempting to justify social discrmination. Social discrimination was common back than. Lee wrote that the Whites and the Blacks have different churches that they go too. It is evident through out the book that there is a church for the people of Maycomb, where the Finches and the rest of the ‘white’ townspeople attend. And there is also one for the Blacks, where Calpulnia-Negroes American, working for the Finches-plus the rest of the Blacks community; for example, the Robinsons and Sam—the  girl who work for Mrs. Dubose—go too. There was one time where Atticus, Robinson’s lawyer, was gone on a legal trip, since the next day was Sunday Calpulnia, the Finches’ cock took them, Jem and Scout-Atticus’ children- to her church. It was the Blacks’ church. Even in the legal scene of Tom Robinson’s , the Whites set on one side of the room, and the Blacks on the other side.

Segregation was common and could be seen through out the book To Kill a Mockingbird, but sadly through out history as well. Some people ended up in travesty while some ended up in sheol when try to break up segregation. The bottom line was that it was not a mere individual responsibility , but the whole country partook.

Tom Robinson is arrested, and is placed on trail with an accusation of raping an adutlensent, 19 years old Mayella. Not so far away from this, Rosa Parks was arrested at Montgomery for refusing to give up her seat at the front of the colored section-defying a southern custom of the time. In addition to this, Boorstins said, “They were not [even] allowed to live in the model towns built with the government money in the Tennessee Valley ”, let alone a seat in a bus. Thus began the bus boycott. However, under the presidency of John F. Kennedy, he guaratee and protect the right of all the people in America to use motels, hotels, barber shops and restaurants (Boorstins, 133; 138).

Emmett Till was kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River while on his way to visit his family for whistling at a white women, and of course; his skin color must have played the role that caused him his life (Civil Rights Timeline). Similar to this, Tom Robinson is convicted and later on shoot when he was trying to run away from jail; however, Atticus, Tom Robinson’s lawyer, believed that the other guys-including the gaurds-in the Maycomb jail most have given Tom a good reason why to attempt an escape in a broad day light—threats. Although, Atticus’ theory can never be provened, but at the same time it can be true. The Ewells, in To Kill a Mockingbird, persecutes-that is probably calling her names- Tom Ribinson’s wife when she was using the  public road to get to her workplace. That is why in history the Blacks and Whites were not allowed, or better termed never [to] sit together in the same bus, stadium, class room, and the list could go on and on.

A mob in Alabama seted the Blacks’ bus on fire as they were passing by.

At a lunch counter in  Woolworth, the Blacks were refused service, although they were not chase of the counter. Connected to this, Boorstin said, “In the South Negroes [African Americans]  had to attend separate, and inferior, schools” (Boorstin, 129)

Bombs were planned at a popular location where Civil Righters met, as a result four young girls were killed.

The Supreme Court, in Loving v.s.Virginia, ruled that prohibited interracial marriage as unconstitutional.(Civil Right Timeline).

Although they were faithful and loyal in fighting both World War I and World War II, they, the Blacks, were not given equal rights in the army, navy, and air force. Instead, they served in the kitchen as cocks, waiters, and dishwashers. As a matter of fact Boorsitns recalled: “Back in 1896[,] the [Supreme] Court actually had declared that laws which required Negroes [African Americans] to stay separate—to use separated washrooms, separate schools, and separate railroads cars—did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment” (Boorstins, 135). It is sad, yet, clear that Congress let their skin color affected how they thought, judged, and passed such words as those above.

President Lyndon Johnson changed all of that when he appointed Marshall to serve in the Supreme Court. During his era, African Americans not only serve “as maids or chauffeurs, but as police captains, businessmen, newsreporters, priests, doctors, and lawyers” (Boorstins, 140). Slowly, but proggressingly the Blacks began to inhirit the rights they deserved.

Many Whites, nowaday, thinks that racism is history, a problem already solved by Civil Rights Movement; however, Afican Americans continuued to experince racism in many areas of social life. They continued to have the worst of everything; their schools and hospitals, washrooms and water fountains were inferior (Boorstins, 135). One of the subthemes in To Kill a Mockingbird, are threat, hatred, prejudice and ignorance put forth to the innocent; for example, Tom Robinson, Mr. Arthur (Boo Radley), in which they encounter and as a result they were destroyed (Themes, Motifs & Symbols).

Racism did not only affected African Americans in the economic and social aspect of life, but, belive it or not, legally as well. However, there were some positives; for instance, in the case Brown v.s. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public school is unconstitutional. That later on made the way for Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice, to overturn ‘separate but equal’ in Plessy v.s. Ferguson case to ‘separate educational facilites are inherently unequal’—the Blacks sure victory (Civil Rights Time)!

Negatively, the Blacks were not even allow to vote. Although during the Reconstruction, the Fifteenth Amendment destroyed ‘restiction’ on voting—African Americans were still deprived of voting. White Southerners invented all sorts of trickeries to thwarted the Blacks from voting. The one that is the weirdest, sadest, yet, funniest, at least I find it to be, is, “They [the Blacks] would not be allowed to vote simply because their grandfathers did not have the right to vote” (Boorstins, 131). Some Southerner States applied the Poll Tax specificly on the Blacks. It was wrong from the beginning because it was for everyone to pay before voting. You already know that economically, the Blacks were poor. And if they did pay their taxes, the election judge would still keep them out of voting because of ‘technical mistake in his [their] tax receipt’ (Boorstins, 132).

On some occasion the Blacks were asked to read out the hardest sentence out of the Constitution and explain, if they did it right they would have the right to vote—most of the time, they were incorrect! While this was taking place, the Whites were only asked to read out the simplies sentence , and did not have to expain, then they could vote. They were right all the time! The Whites “pretend that the great political parties in the South were not political parties at all, but only private clubs. Therefore, they said, nobody except the white ‘members’had a right to vote in the primary election when their ‘club’ picked its cadidates” (Boorstins, 132). The Whites must really had a lot of fun while their upper hands were on the Blacks, which is sad and hard to witness.

Thus Civil Rights groups, such as COFO, CORE, and SNCC, made giantic effort to regster black voters on the summer of 1964. Not to long after that, on a march to Montgomery in support of voting rights, they, the Blacks were stopped at the Pettus Bridge by police blockkade. Fifty were found injured from tear gas, whips, and clubs deposited by the police after the blockade. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus, the lawyer, was spated on, made fun of, and an attempt to kill his children-Scout and Jem-by Mr. Ewell was launched as well, why, because, he, Atticus, made an apology for Tom Robinson, a nigger—as all Blacks were referred to. Similar to this, except Mr. Ewell died not the children, three Civil Rights workers—two whites, one black were found dead in an earthern dam after President Johnson intruded an investigation of their missing existance.

A detailed analysis of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and the time period that surrounding it shows that racism affected every aspect of American’s society, including economic, social, and legal. There is no perfect utobia on this falling world, except on papers in books. Every country, society, even America , as you have read had it black spots—racism! To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, did a febulous and bravo job in portraying the affects of racism. All in all, since nothing is perfect, Lee should have at least let the readers know that Dill knows who Boo Radley really was, and that Jem and Scout play with Boo the next day. Or some how expand the endings a little more because the way the endings it is right now causes the reader; for example, myself to have bitterness, and anger feelings—mix emotions.