1930's Discrimination Quotes

Words: 1315
Pages: 6

How Far Have We Come Discrimination in Alabama in the 1930’s , the righteousness of white men, telling women and black people they did not deserve the same rights and respect as themselves. Racism, and sexism, are the words we use today to describe such discrimination. However in the 1930’s it wasn’t looked at as unfair, it was perfectly fair. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the reader sees discrimination in the two major ways, sexism and racism. These discriminations come into play all throughout the book, and lead us to ask many important questions. What was discrimination like in the 1930’s? What is discrimination like today in our modern day society? How far have we come from these types of discrimination? Sexism led Scout to believe …show more content…
Racism is the biggest display of discrimination in the book and we hear a lot about how unfair it was for the black community. For example Atticus tells Scout “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life”. (Pg. 295) In this quote Atticus is talking to Scout about how unfairly Black men are treated. He is saying everyday you can go outside and see a white man getting privileges that are taken from black men. Atticus continues to talk to Scout about racism and says. “In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins.” (Pg.295) Atticus is telling Scout no matter what the circumstances, even if it is obvious the black man is innocent the white man’s word will overpower the innocence. We see this statement in action during Tom Robinson's case. Thomas is innocent and it is easy to say, however a white family’s reputation is on the line and even though this family is very low class they are still white and are favored heavily by the jury. Thomas Robinson ends up convicted of a crime he did not commit and this would eventually lead to his death. Discrimination is not only for the black men, white men are also hated on for supporting a black man. We see an example of this when Scout’s cousin says “I guess it ain't your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I'm here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family.” (Pg.110) He uses the term “nigger-lover” to describe Atticus, for he is defending a black man in court. Racism has gone so far in this society you don’t have to be black to be part of the hate you can even just hang out with black people and be accused of being a “nigger-lover” which back then is a terrible