Post by patricia on Jul 15, 2016 18:35:44 GMT
To Kill A Mocking Bird was set in the 1930's, when Scout was 6, and then published later on in the 60's which I find coincidental because the Civil Rights Movement began in 1968. However has racism actually really changed at the core? An example of racism is when Atticus is talking to Scout,
"Nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything-- like snot nose, It's hard to explain-- ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody."
The term "nigger-lover" was used to say that someone was trying to give African Americans special rights. But racism, if we take a close look, is not just targeted at black people, it is also targeted at people who supported black people.
How does all of this relate to present day? In my opinion racism has not significantly changed since then at the core. Sure white people don't go around calling black people "nigger" or other degrading things, or black people don't work for white people as slaves, or many other examples. But unfortunately all you have to do is turn on the news and there is racism and acts of hate. For instance the shootings in Dallas, or the mass shooting at the gay nightclub, Pulse, or the terrorist attack in Nice, France that just happened today leaving eighty-four dead. These are all extreme examples of hate/racism/prejudice being carried out. But no one just decides to kill people overnight, there is always an escalation of hate. Racism and hate still exist in everyday life that are not extreme acts as much as I hate to admit it. An example of racism, which is really just hate, is of my neighbor (not listing details of the person for their own privacy), I was visiting with he/she and then a black man started to walk down the street and my neighbor said like it was just a normal thing,"stupid nigger." His words not mine. This is the day-to-day crap that just makes my skin crawl. More examples of hate/racism can be found on social media. Most of you probably know what I am talking about since you have social media-- anyways, white people can't do a certain thing because it's "black" and black people can't do a certain thing because it's "white." These are the little things, day-to-day things that we can say no to so we can impact our future, the world's future for the better. I think, at least in my opinion, that instead of living by the rule of "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all" we should live by "If you don't have anything nice to say get help from someone so you don't act it out."
"Nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything-- like snot nose, It's hard to explain-- ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody."
The term "nigger-lover" was used to say that someone was trying to give African Americans special rights. But racism, if we take a close look, is not just targeted at black people, it is also targeted at people who supported black people.
How does all of this relate to present day? In my opinion racism has not significantly changed since then at the core. Sure white people don't go around calling black people "nigger" or other degrading things, or black people don't work for white people as slaves, or many other examples. But unfortunately all you have to do is turn on the news and there is racism and acts of hate. For instance the shootings in Dallas, or the mass shooting at the gay nightclub, Pulse, or the terrorist attack in Nice, France that just happened today leaving eighty-four dead. These are all extreme examples of hate/racism/prejudice being carried out. But no one just decides to kill people overnight, there is always an escalation of hate. Racism and hate still exist in everyday life that are not extreme acts as much as I hate to admit it. An example of racism, which is really just hate, is of my neighbor (not listing details of the person for their own privacy), I was visiting with he/she and then a black man started to walk down the street and my neighbor said like it was just a normal thing,"stupid nigger." His words not mine. This is the day-to-day crap that just makes my skin crawl. More examples of hate/racism can be found on social media. Most of you probably know what I am talking about since you have social media-- anyways, white people can't do a certain thing because it's "black" and black people can't do a certain thing because it's "white." These are the little things, day-to-day things that we can say no to so we can impact our future, the world's future for the better. I think, at least in my opinion, that instead of living by the rule of "If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all" we should live by "If you don't have anything nice to say get help from someone so you don't act it out."
