In Harper Lee's book, To Kill A Mockingbird, she reveals to her audience that prejudice, is a destructive force in any society. During the time that Mockingbird was written, racism was acceptable. Racism is a key theme in her book. Not only those who were black, but also those who affiliated with blacks, were considered inferior. Atticus, a lawyer, who defended blacks in court, was mocked. An example of this is when Mrs. Dubose told the children "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for"(Lee??). This strong example of how racism would control the lives of many people throughout the early 20th century. The reasons why prejudice is so destructive to a community is each side thinks that they are better than the other side, which means instead of trying to solve the problem at hand they are getting divided by their race, as they have no interest in communicating with the other party.
Back in the time period of To Kill A Mockingbird, black people were considered to be lower class, which caused white people to always suspect blacks before they suspected white people. An example of this is when a character named Nathan Radley hears someone in his cabbage patches. He shot his gun in the air and when people asked what happen, he automatically told them it was a nigger', even though he didn't see the person. But, he knew the person was white by this quote someone said he said. "Shot in the air. Scared him though, says if anyone sees a white nigger' running around here that's him" (Lee 54). Meaning that he knows the person is white. Another example is that some people even put animals above blacks, as told in the rest of the quote. "Got the other barrel waitin' for the next hears in his patch, be it dog, nigger', or Jem Finch" (Lee 54). This shows that Mr. Radley didn't have any respect for blacks. In some parts of the world this is true even to this day. In South Africa since statistically black men commit more crime than any other race...
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