May Inui
Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on https://www.pexels.com/
Content Warning: Mention of sexual assault
If you’ve attended middle or high school in America, you’ve probably read or at least heard of the 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird.
Written by Harper Lee, the story takes place in the mid-1930s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. It is narrated by Scout Finch, a six-year-old tomboy who lives with her brother, Jeremy, and her father, Atticus. Tom Robinson, one of the town's Black residents, is falsely accused of sexually assaulting Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Scout’s father, Atticus, agrees to defend him despite having little hopes of winning the trial and receiving threats from the community. The reader sees the trial develop through the childlike eyes of Scout, as she and her brother learn valuable life lessons about prejudice, courage, and empathy.
The main topics in To Kill a Mockingbird are civil rights and racial inequality. The novel well reflects the racism and prejudice African Americans face in America in both the past and the present. As stated earlier, Tom Robinson was falsely accused of sexual assault merely because of his skin color. Atticus was one of the only few people who stood up for Mr. Robinson at the trial. Although there was clear evidence that proved him innocent, he was eventually decided guilty by an all-white jury and was killed.
On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd’s death shook the whole world. Floyd, unarmed, was killed by the police while being arrested. He said more than twenty times he could not breathe as he was restrained by the officers. This event angered many and provoked one of the largest movements of 2020, Black Lives Matter. People of all ages, genders, and ethnicities around the globe protested against police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people.
It has been 60 years since the novel To Kill a Mockingbird has been published. Yet, significant change has not been made. There are still many African Americans today who have to face what Tom Robinson did in the novel.
We as a generation must stand up for what is right. We must do all that is possible to get every individual in America guaranteed civil and political rights. We must fight until racial equality is prevalent in America. We must learn from our past and continue to strive for the best in our society. If not, nothing will change.
Comments