Racial Injustice and Discrimination towards Blacks in the Novels of Harper Lee

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Introduction

In the research paper titled, ‘The Power of Being Color Blind’, Faeze Rezazade and Esmaeil Zohdi, from The Department of English Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Vali-e-Asr University, Kerman, Iran, analyze and highlight the racial injustice and discrimination towards Blacks in the novel.

The Power of Being Color-Blind was published in International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, in July 2016.

The novel was first published in 1960. It became enormously popular, and was later translated in 40 languages. Harper Lee was awarded with Pulitzer Prize for his work in 1961. It was acclaimed for its sensitive treatment of an infant’s awakening to racism and social inequality in all across South America.

The novel’s plot and all the characters are based on Harper Lee’s observation towards his family, friends, and acquaintances and an event that she witnessed at the age of 10, near her hometown in Monroeville, Alabama, 1936. The story revolves around the life of Atticus Finch, an attorney, and his journey to defend an Afro-American man. He is falsely accused of raping a White woman, Mayella Ewell. Within this novel, the author addresses social issues such as that of class hierarchy, courage, compassion towards the dark-skinned and humanitarian values that go against the prejudiced society in the American Deep South.

Racial injustice and stereotypes against the Blacks, that began among the groups since the very beginnings of formations of their communities and has managed to persist all through the years. One of the major reasons for this prejudice against Blacks was the belief of the Whites, who claimed their superiority over them. This led to them being treated as non-human, rather “clownish” creatures whose only purpose after their birth was to serve the light-skinned people.

Harper Lee, in the novel, introduces three children, Dill, Scout and Jem, along with their father, Atticus. She portrays them as characters, who do not distinguish between colored skin and otherwise and unify and fraternize with Blacks, without considering their skin color.

The novel also aims at highlighting the racial prejudice and injustice against the Black society, and investigates our leading protagonist’s color-blindness regardless of the color-oriented society, in To Kill a Mockingbird.

This research paper also takes into account W.E.B Du Bois’ standpoint regarding the treatment of the dark-skinned society. He himself was an African-American Socialist and editor, who felt the pain of bearing the ill-wills of racism, and could relate to the oppression inflicted on the fellow members of his society. This is why; he endeavored to eliminate racism and the discrimination that followed it. In The Souls of Black Folks (1903), Bois’ expresses his resentment toward racial prejudice and asserts on the fact that this discrimination against Blacks is not logically-reasoned. He accepts the division of human beings into different races, but rejects the idea of the supremacy of one race over the other. He further supports his viewpoint by explaining that African-Americans are also, Native Americans by birth, language, political views and religion.

In those days, Blacks were addressed as savages, uncivilized, and lowbrow people who were termed as Second-class citizens of the world. Deprived of basic human rights, they were subjected to lynching, segregation, injustice and oppression. They were treated badly by light-skinned people and were falsely charged for crimes that they did not commit.

D.E.B Bois’ devoted all his life to fighting in favor of equality and helping his fellow members cease the practice of the supremacy of Whites over Blacks. He says, “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.”

Description of the Research Article

Racism was one of the most profound issues of the 20th century. Faeze Rezazade and Esmail Zohdi, in their article, quote Lois Tysons interpretation of racial discrimination. “Racism refers to the unequal power relations that grow from the sociopolitical domination of one race by another and that result in systematic discriminatory practices (for example, segregation, domination and persecution).” Enslaving the Blacks and not Whites was the base of the White supremacist attitude that internalized inferiority on the colored citizens, especially African-Americans. These were the victims of such discrimination, the reason being that they belonged to groups and were eminently known as Negroes.

The Power of Being Color-Blind also discusses W.E. B. Bois’ attitude towards racism. He was an empirical researcher, studying ethnicity and race in the USA. He himself was a Pan-Africanist, and his childhood experiences shaped his criticism against such prejudice on the basis of one’s color. As a child, he felt the pain of being discriminated, when a White newcomer girl in his school refused to take his card during a play because of his skin color. This incident left an impressionable mark on his psyche, the aggression of which later transformed into irrevocable and fearless criticism against inferiority of Blacks. Du Bois, in his essay, tells that post this incident, it dawned upon him that he was different from others.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, traces of partiality towards the dark-skinned can be seen in the life of several characters. Throughout the novel, African-Americans are mere outcasts of the White society, and are considered unequal in almost every sphere of life. The novel talks about Tom Robinson, an innocent Black who is falsely accused of rape charges on a White girl. What is common in Du Bois and Harper Lee is their vision towards prevailing Racism which is interconnected to the ways of the world. In her novel, she has attempted to highlight the idea of a world devoid of differences on the basis of color and race by shedding focus on morally strong and just characters.

John Roberts says, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race”. This ironic statement is based on the fact; in order to obliterate racism from its roots, treatment on the basis of diversity of race must be put an end to. Keeping in mind this idea, color-blindness is the best-suited conception which must be used to deal with such issues. The term, color-blindness, as the paper tends to give an idea on, teaches one the way of living a life that is free of any kind of prejudice involving color orientation.

This is because, color-blindness is one aspect that takes no account of classification, distinction or categorization based on one’s race. By being color-blind, one is being devoid of any factors that might lead him to circumstances wherein one can differentiate amongst a variety of colors. Hence, it can be considered as the ability of viewing different races through a “transparent eyeball”.

Harper Lee explains that transparent eyes are physically devoid of seeing color. He says, “The pupils of the saints are made transparent and they can see the uncreated light directly and with a sight which reveals in essence.” Atticus, the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird is a clear-cut example of this notion.

Aspects of The Power of Being Color-Blind in How to Kill a Mockingbird

This novel can be considered as an anti-racial workpiece that condemns the practice of racial injustice, discrimination and prejudice. This novel is set in the 1930’s, which was the time of Great Depression throughout America. Lee has realistically and seamlessly depicted the perception of a society in the town, Maycomb, South of America. The author has tried to eliminate the vices of racial supremacy through a righteous character, Atticus, who does not promote differentiation on the basis of race.

The general tendency of human opposition to society has been a prevalent issue in the novel. Harper Lee’s provocative thoughts of 1960 influenced several social discussions and revealed many problematic aspects of American society. The novel is a brutally honest confrontation to racism which is a timeless message to the color-oriented society, prevailing till date. It also encourages a strong-headed mindset which promotes the condemning of racial tolerance.

Lee also brings three other child characters and introduces them at the only people who experience devastation when they witness injustice. Atticus is nearly blind in his left eye carries the insight to see clearly. Through this, Harper Lee precisely points towards the irony and the vivid vision of physically fit eyes, which fail to see all races with a similar judgment. Here, Color-blindness is regarded as a metaphoric conception, and hence, a way to abolish discrimination entirely on people of colored skin. For instance, when Scott asks his father the reason he attempts to defend a Negro, Atticus, the protagonist says, “If I didn’t, I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again…Scott, simply by the nature of the work, every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess.”

Lee, in order to present the accentuated immorality of the society, uses Scout as the narrator of the story. The peculiarities of her childhood experiences in a definite biographical detail and such perception of a situation, were depicted through the character of Scout.

Atticus is Lee’s representative in the novel, and voices her thoughts and ideals which she wishes to portray in front of the world. By inculcating human values and a sense of goodness, Harper Lee sends a message that opposes the beliefs of the society. Another way, Lee presents the depth of racism and its impacts are by presenting Atticus’ vision of the issue to his children. He says, “You’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but..whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or fine a family he comes from, he is trash.”

Atticus Finch is one of the very few people in the town who tries to fight the system to overcome justice. His moral perception can be taken into consideration, from plenty of instances in the novel. On Christmas, Atticus gifts his children two rifles, but does not teach them how to use them. He only tells Jem, “I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

They have a dark-skinned maid named Calpurnia, who plays the role of a mother-like figure for the children. Even though it is a trend to treat all Negroes with disrespect and a sense of inferiority in Maycomb, yet Atticus and his family do not treat her the same way. In addition, Atticus’ color-blindness has had the same impact on his children, who, because of such an upbringing, are color-blind towards Blacks and Whites too.

Harper Lee highlights the importance of taking a step ahead and contributing towards the abolishment of any social issue, the prevalence of which needs to cease. By trying to awaken the townspeople’s consciousness to see through a “transparent eyeball”, Atticus triumphs to resolve the entangled threads of inhumanity and injustice which are based on racial prejudice.

Conclusion

The African-American population has always been target of racial prejudice because of their skin-color. They were separated from the vast society of the Whites, and were taken aback within a vast veil, which profoundly impacted every Black citizen, be it an innocent child who was deprived of the society and its ill practices or an adult who could only fear his inferiority.

In the research article, Faeze Rezazade and Esmaeil Zohdi throw light on the ability of viewing the world with a “transparent eyeball”, which leads the man to walk on the righteous path of fairness and justice. Therefore, in this regard, To Kill a Mockingbird is an appropriate example of how color-blindness, in the case of Atticus and his children can create an efficacious and enduring benchmark of truthfulness, empathy and the stability to follow one’s principles. It also contests W.E. B. Du Bois’ opinions on anti-racism and gives wings to the idea that equality much prevail the world, regardless of the skin-color.

Harper Lee tells that To Kill a Mockingbird is not merely an autobiography, but rather a classic example of how an author ought to write everything he or she knows, by adding truth to it.

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Racial Injustice and Discrimination towards Blacks in the Novels of Harper Lee

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