Pedro Kuzma Mr.

Phillips English 9B 05 December 2013 Racism- An Ongoing Problem Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong( Muhammad Ali). This quote, said by Muhamad Ali, talks about racism, which is a very present theme in both To Kill a Mockingbird and Mississippi Burning. The difference, is that they approach it in two different ways, in the book, racism is more psychological, and in the movie, racism is more physical. A first example of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird, is when Aunt Alexandra gets to Atticus house and straight away does not really like Calpurnia because she is a colored woman. Alexandra talks to her brother about that, but Atticus stays firm and does not give up on Calpurnia, as he says,"She's a faithful member of the family and you'll simply have to accept things the way they are"(Harper Lee 137). Alexandra is racist, she says that she didnt like Calpurnia and that she doesnt like that the kids are being raised by a black woman. Racism is very apparent in Mississippi Burning, a scene where it is present is when the three men are going back to the north. They get killed because they were civil rights workers that helped the black community (Alan Parker, Mississippi Burning). Two of them were civil rights workers and one of them is black, so the police man shot them.

This isnt only a fictional case, this happened in the real world when "Edgar Ray Killen was convicted for orchestrating the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers in a case popularly known as "Mississippi Burning"(Jerry Mitchell). ALthough this case happened, in 1964, and the man got his first conviction 41 years later in 2005. This case inspired the movie. Another case of racism present in To Kill a Mockingbird, is the accusation and conviction of Tom Robinson.That only happened because he is black, if he had been white, he would certainly have gotten out of it, as says Atticus,To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white (Harper Lee 203). In this quote, we can see that this case is dealing with black and white, if he had been white he could have easily gotten off. This shows the racism in the town because they judged him unfairly, mainly because of his color and not whether he committed the act or not. My last example of racism is in Mississippi Burning, where the white people wait for the black outside the church (Alan Parker, Mississippi Burning). When it was over, they attack the black, kick some, punch others and hurt everyone, even a boy who is praying. That act forced the two FBI agents to start to go afte r freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary"(Malcolm X). This is a very racist act, they hit and hurt many people for no real reason, just because of their skin color. As we can see, To Kill a Mockingbird and Mississippi Burning approach racism in two very different ways, but both of them must hurt a lot and make the victim feel horrible and worthless. Lucky now a days racism decreased a lot, and now there are

laws that go against racism, I hope one day racism ceases completely and we can live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character(Martin Luther King).