Bigotry In To Kill A Mockingbird

676 Words3 Pages
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, African Americans are treated as mediocre, lousy, and good-for-nothing human beings. The town Maycomb, where the story is based, is very prejudice against blacks. For example, whites and blacks don’t attend the same churches, and there are considerable differences in the way the churches are run. In addition, there is unfair treatment even with the law. Black people are unquestionably guilty no matter what the evidence. Some of this judgmental way of life has seeped into their own culture, and they find themselves treating others with equivalent bigotry as they deal with every day. Maycomb’s people, black and white, have many differences from each other, but are also similar in ways that are unseen.…show more content…
The Jim Crow laws lead to the “Separate but Equal” doctrine. Blacks had their own churches, restrooms, restaurants… etc. Therefore, blacks and whites in Maycomb are commonly found in completely separate quarters of the town. For example, they go to entirely different churches. When Calpurnia, the maid, brings the children to the “black” church, Jem and Scout immediately notice some major differences. The first difference they noticed is that there are no songbooks like they had at the “white” church. They use a method called “lining”, where the song leader says one line and the rest repeat. Also, the “black” church isn’t as welcoming to Jem and Scout as the “white” church. Lula, a member of the black church, criticized Cal for bringing the children. She said, “You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?”(158) . This shows that some black people can be just as judgmental as the whites. Although there are a few exceptions. Reverend Skyes was very polite and made them feel more welcomed. He said, “Brethren and sisters, we are particularly glad to have company with us this morning. Mister and Miss Finch. You all know their father”(160). I believe he did this partly because their father is fighting for a member of their black
Open Document