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The American 1920s in To Kill A Mockingbird

Uploaded by spootyhead on Apr 18, 2007

The American 1920s in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

The twenties and thirties in America presented many problems for the black community all around the nation. They still were not provided the same rights as the white race - they still had no right to vote and were unable to use the same facilities as whites (transportation, restaurants, restrooms, etc.). They were also subject to racial slurs and were often punished severely for crimes that a white could get away with and receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, illustrates such prejudice in the form a court trial in which a black man is accused of assaulting a young white girl. Needless to say, the all-white jury was one of the many problems that blacks faced during the twenties and thirties.

The twenties and thirties was a time of extreme racial tension, and the arrival of the Great Depression in 1929 didn’t make things any better. The blacks were already subject to criticism by the general public, let alone the rise of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan showed absolute brutality towards the black race. Blacks were beaten, burned, lynched, or branded by the KKK - hundreds of blacks fell under the wrath of the KKK.

The KKK was so enormous, in fact, that it was the law since many law enforcement officials were pledged into the clan. One situation showed a black man walking on the streets one night when a police officer began to hassle him. The police officer was a member of the clan, and when he called for backup, other clansmen were there within minutes. They then proceeded to beat the black man unconscious and took him to a remote part of the woods. There, they tied him to a tree and whipped him nearly to death. They left him hanging there to die after they had had their fun. The man’s body was discovered a few days later with bite marks from all the forest creatures that had picked up his rotting scent. Conveniently, the police made no attempt to apprehend the suspect. (KKK: Acts of Brutality).

Another problem for blacks was that they were unable to enroll in white schools. Blacks had their own school building, which was no doubt dilapidated compared to the white schools. They had to work twice as hard to...

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Uploaded by:   spootyhead

Date:   04/18/2007

Category:   To Kill a Mockingbird

Length:   5 pages (1,142 words)

Views:   3775

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