The White Male Juries By Tom Robinson - 1417 Words

Without question, Tom Robinson would be better off today. He would be able to vote. He would have access to all public accommodations. He could win a seat in Congress, be appointed to the Supreme Court, he could even be President. In fact, Tom Robinson could live a life completely unimaginable and unrecognizable to the characters in Harper Lee’s â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†. No lynching’s. No all white male juries. No presumption of guilt based on skin color. No state-sanctioned discrimination. Yet, Tom would realize a sad, but undeniable truth — that racism is still alive and all too well in this country, America. He would know it in the economic injustice that has left twenty-five percent of African-Americans living in poverty. He†¦show more content†¦Instructive words now. Like Alabama in the 1930s, Texas in the 1950s was a place where separate never meant equal. It was a place where colored water fountains did not spout brightly colored water as a child might expect, but stood as symbols of racism, which meant indignity, shame, and humiliation for some and indifference, false pride, and hate for others. At my old school, my teachers carefully avoided any mention of race, class, or gender. Like Scout, I learned those lessons from my family. When Scout comes to her father with questions about human behavior, he doesn t give her advice on what to say or do. Instead, he tells her that the trick to understanding another person is to consider things from his or her point of view. For nearly 15 years, that has been a hard thing to conquer. We trust each other to wrestle with complex choices in the past and present so that they will better understand the social mores of our time. We encourage them to think critically and independently in much the way Atticus, Scout s father, engages his children. Like some people, Scout s teacher misses an opportunity to trust her students with the complexities of history and human behavior. Each week at Scout s school, there is a current events period where each student clips an item from a newspaper and shares the contents with the class. In one lesson, a child, Cecil, shares his current event: Old Adolf Hitler has beenShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee880 Words   |  4 PagesAnalysis on Tom Robinson’s Trial Harper Lee’s â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† is set in a small Southern United States community called Maycomb during the Great Depression era. The whole book primarily revolves around segregation and racism and how it relates to Maycomb’s history. It eventually leads to the trial of Tom Robinson where he is accused of beating up and raping Mayella Ewell. Even though it was clear that Tom Robinson did not do anything wrong he was convicted by an all white jury simply becauseRead MoreKill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee883 Words   |  4 Pagesto the trial of Tom Robinson where he is accused of beating up and raping Mayella Ewell. Even though it was clear that Tom Robinson did not do anything wrong, he was convicted by an all white jury simply because he was black. The trial of Tom Robinson and its verdict shows an example of how segregation in the court system prevents fair trials from occurring. In Maycomb, a black man named Tom Robinson is on trial for raping beating up Mayella Ewell. From the beginning Mr. Robinson never really receivedRead MoreEssay on Tom Robinson is Proved Guilty Before Trial1356 Words   |  6 PagesTom Robinson is Proved Guilty Before Trial In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family. To Kill A Mockingbird took place in the 1930’s, a time that was enormously charged withRead MoreThe Jury System Essay1379 Words   |  6 PagesThe right to trial by jury in the modern times originates from twelfth century England during the reign of King Henry II. This system may originate from an â€Å"ancient right for an accused to be tried only â€Å"by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land†Ã¢â‚¬  (Thomas). In the United States, trial by jury is mentioned in Article Three of the Constitution and the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments. For many people, the jury system seems to be the fairest system and most unbiased way of determiningRead MoreTo What Extent Was Tom Robinsons Fate Sealed the Moment Mayella Ewell Accused Him of Rape.819 Words   |  4 PagesTo what extent was Tom Robinson’s fate sealed the moment Mayella Ewell accused him of rape. Maycomb is presented as a town fill with many prejudices. However, in the American south of the 1930s racial prejudice was probably the most dangerous and most lethal. This can be seen in the case of Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The implications of being found guilty of such a crime would almost certainly have been the enforcement of the death penalty. The likelihoodRead More Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Case Essay1361 Words   |  6 Pagesher famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In this story a young male Tom Robinson is charged with raping a white female. It is by understanding the parallel between Tom Robinson’s case in To Kill a Mockingbird and the Scottsboro case that can be understood that a fair trial was unlikely and that because of Tom Robinson’s race he was presumed guilty before his trial. Investigating the similarities between the Scottsboro case and Tom Robinson’s trail, the first major parallel the shadow of lynchingRead MoreEffects Of Racial Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird1526 Words   |  7 PagesMockingbird, a black male named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. During the trial Robinson was well represented by a prominent lawyer named Atticus. Atticus knew because of racial discrimination Robinson would still be convicted of the crime, but he still took on the challenge. Robinson then was wrongfully accused of raping Mayella because his arm was cripple in which it means he couldn’t have hit Mayella on the face. After the trial, Tom had only two choices inRead MoreTo Kill A Mockingbird Power Essay1043 Words   |  5 Pagesis a poor white woman with an abusive father, no mother, and six siblings to take care of she does have power. Mayella Ewell is powerful as a character and continues to gain power in Harpe r Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird when it comes to race, class and gender. Despite Mayella being very poor and in a lower class of the society in Maycomb Alabama she uses her status as a white female to manipulate others into deciding in her favor when dealing with her court case against Tom Robinson regardingRead MoreNegative Aspects Of Human Nature1457 Words   |  6 Pagesand encounter Social prejudice as the story develops, and their views towards people of different class alter. In addition to the prejudice that Jem and Scout perceive, they recognize the gender prejudice, present to their time period. Finally, Tom Robinson, a young African-American from Maycomb, Alabama, faces Racial prejudice throughout the story because he is black. Inside Harper Lee’s â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, there are many negative aspects of human nature present, such as Social prejudice, GenderRead More Doomed From the Start Essay1385 Words   |  6 PagesDoomed From the Sta rt Throughout the course of history, blacks have always been second to the whites. Even after the Civil War, segregation and racists groups were at large. During this time, white men were disrespectful towards black men. Groups like the K.K.K. wanted nothing less than white supremacy, and they would stop at nothing to obtain this goal. Many blacks were lynched, or even killed only because of the color of their skin. The following are examples of this; the Scottsboro