Tom Robinson Discrimination

Improved Essays
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character"(Martin Luther King). In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, natives of Maycomb county stereotype against various races, including their own, and constantly do they feel culpable of their own actions. Tom Robinson, a black man, who is twenty five years old, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a nineteen year old girl. With no hardcopies of evidence, Tom is arrested, and in prison, having no hope, he tries to escape, but fails and is massively shot seventeen times. Maycomb perceives his “death [as] typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger's mentality …show more content…
During the 1930’s, racism was america’s worst imperfection because went it against the idea that all men are created equal. Even though Tom Robinson was completely innocent, he is accused of committing harmful actions because citizens judged him by his skin color, and ethnicity. Throughout the whole story, many characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are grouped into various stereotypes, depending on their characteristics, because the people who have these perceptions have no valid reasoning backing up their opinions of why they have these misbeliefs. Many people in Maycomb County stereotype not because they have the intention, but because they have wrong perceptions of other people's characteristics. For example, in the beginning of the story, under Scout’s standpoint, the Cunninghams are designated to a low class family because they are extremely poor, and have had no education of any sort. On the first day of school, Miss Caroline, the teacher of first grade, asks everyone in class if they brought lunch, but Walter Cunningham, a student, was the only one who did not. Therefore, Miss Caroline offered him money to buy lunch for himself, but however, he rejects it. Scout, the main character, tries to

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