Civil Rights in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The implicit bias towards certain races and nationalities has created havoc in every aspect of our nation, but some more specifically than others. The court of law has demonstrated prejudice on various occasions and has made itself a staple in this current day of age. Our nation’s judicial court system is severely unfair because of the poisonous misrepresentations of minorities and the everlasting ramifications that slavery has made on human rights.

Even before the Jim Crow era, African-Americans have been painfully misrepresented as malicious, savage, thief-like, and no good doing individuals. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Tom Robinson is put on trial for the alleged rape of fellow townswoman Mayella Ewell. Even in light of the fractured testimonies by the prosecution, the jury composed of all white males decided to sentence him. He eventually winds up dead after trying to escape prison. “Typical of a niggers mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw” (Lee 25). In this moment, the town learns about the death of Tom, and the level of sentiment was essentially zero. The mindset of the town was that Tom was just a stupid, no- good black man. This case’s inevitable failure was due to the true feelings of the majority of Maycomb, that African Americans were stupid, violent, and a level lower than the whites.

Furthermore, slavery has made a big impact on the rights that African American’s have been given. In this time period, Black Americans were seen as inferior to the white man, which warranted them unequal rights if trouble happened to arise. After the trial, Atticus explained the unjustness of the case to Jem, and why it would never have succeeded. “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments into a jury box” (Lee 23) The sole reason not even one man on the jury voted not guilty was because of Mr. Robinson’s race. As soon as Tom stepped inside the court, his 6th Amendment rights were revoked, alongside any chance of a fair hearing. Everyone deserves a fair chance in the courtroom regardless of what they look like, but society prevents that from coming into fruition.

African Americans are some of the main recipients of dehumanizing stereotypes and unequal rights in this country, and our judicial court system provides no extra support. On the other hand, some people believe that the values of our country hold true to every citizen. However, the constant bias against minorities in this country is a main example of how people are not given the same “unalienable rights'' as laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Everyone is a human being, therefore everyone deserves the same treatment. People should strive to make changes to our justice system to ensure everyone gets fair treatment.