Unfair Laws

The Jim Crow laws were laws that gave African Americans disadvantages. The disadvantages were in Public Social,Economic,and School problems.

They gave white's supremacy over African Americans. This applied a lot in TKAM. This gave African Americans a hard time.

In the court Tom had no voice.This was wrong because he was being ignored. He should have had a voice to defend himself. A similar event to this in TKAM is when Adolphus Raymond married a African American. They called his child a "mixed baby"

Blog 4

During Tom Robinson's trial there were multiple things wrong. First of there was a lack of evidence which unfairly because of his race still was thought of as possible of being guilty even with no legitimate evidence. Also the all white jury was bias and certainly not in his favor. The only thing that was helpful was having Atticus as his defense attorney who would stand up for Tom more than anyone else, but sadly all that did was buy Tom a little extra time for the jury to still determine the guilty verdict. This is how most injustice in courts happen in current time there is either a lack of evidence, racial stereotypes that influence people to think negatively, or a lack or representation. All this leads up to the horrible injustice that is sometimes seen throughout our court system.  

Blog 2

"Maycomb County has recently been told that it has nothing to fear but fear itself." pg. 6

I didn't think about it very much at the time of me first reading this part of the book, but basically this quote starts off the book by showing the corruption we bring upon ourselves in towns, communities, and in society in general. Within Maycomb, EVERYONE talks about each other. When gossip gets out it gets around the town in hours. This leads townspeople to almost this fear of the slightest mess up. It's like if they do something wrong, everyone will judge them and bring shame to their family.

What should happen is that the people support each other. Instead of always spreading the bad news, why not spread the good? Instead of having tea circles where ladies all gather together and trash talk, why not gather and talk of how to improve the community and the good outcomes they've had?
If the town were to all "vibe" together on good energy and yummy tea then honestly, so many things could be so easily fixed. ;)
 

I can relate this to gossip among teens locally at DSA and probably at all high schools. It's like there's always this weird pressure to be good enough, to not do stupid things, to not embarrass yourself, to wear the right clothing, to act a certain way... When really, if we all just didn't care about this "fear" of disapproval, we could all be cool, unqiue, and individual people to our own selves.

Blog 3

Let me start off here by saying all, yes ALL, of my uncles are lawyers. I have five of them. I have huge influence from all of them, making me strongly believe in justice through the court system. Everyone who is accused of a crime should be subject to a fair trial, representation, and persecuted under CLEAR evidence.

In TKAM Tom Robinson was accused with the crime of raping Mayela Ewell. This case rested on the word of Bob Ewell, Mayella's father, along with Mayella's herself. First of all, a case like shouldn't even be able to hold weight in the first place. There's this thing called "proof," yeah, none of that here! Second, even though Heck Tate, the sheriff, was called to the stand, he gave no clear evidence to what really happened either. Since he never called a doctor to analyze Mayella's injuries directly after the events of the "crime", no one will ever be able to tell if they were actually from Robinson. 

Considering all the evidence Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson's lawyer, gave the jury, I believe that Bob Ewell beat up Mayella. It makes sense. The blows were on the right side of Mayella's face, making it virtually impossible for a crippled man to oppose these. AND, Bob just so happens to be left handed...

 

I can relate this to many cases in today's society. If you have more money in today time, or basically were just white back then, then you usually get a better representation and outcome from the case at hand. If you're not as financially gifted in today's time, or were of color back then, you're usually not going to get the best representation. This is extremely unfair and is still a growing and heated issue that needs to be brought to the attention of many and dealt with.

TKAM injustice lives on

As we all know the trial in to kill a mockingbird was pretty unfair and biased. The jury based a lot of their decisions on race and didn't look at the facts. In the end Tom ended up being shot as he tried to escape prison. To them Tom was just another black criminal that didn't matter.

Recently, there's been news about Laquan McDonald, a black teen that was shot sixteen times by a white police officer. The officer says he shot in self-defense that he was scared for his life. Yes, that can be a valid reason at times but was it necessary for him to continue shoot after McDonald was down. Officer Jason Van Dyke was put in jail on first degree murder charges but was then released on bail. Yeah, let's release the murderer it'll be fine yeah we don't do that for everyone else but let's allow him to leave jail. Anyway, there is a video from the police dash cam showing the event that took place, if you would like to watch click here. Viewer discretion is advised because it does show the shooting take place. Here's an article about it as well click here.

You might wondering how this relates to TKAM well I'm going to tell you. Yes there is the connection between Tom Robinson and Laquan McDonald both being shot many times while trying to escape. In this case tom was escaping prison while McDonald was trying to escape arrest. But there is also a connection between the law enforcement's actions with the events that occurred. The law enforcement in TKAM was very biased, believing everything Bob Ewell said and not listening to Tom at all.

With this recent case the law enforcement quickly believed officer van dyke had a perfect and valid reason to murder McDonald. This case was left in the dark for quite a while but then the video got released and people realized they shouldn't have been quick to believe officer Van Dyke.

In both cases we see white men using their privilege to get away with crimes that others wouldn't. If we had a video of the event from TKAM we could clearly see the injustice that happened but we don't. What we do have is the video from the Laquan McDonald's shooting. Officer van dyke was quick to make up a story and say he was attacked. We believed him, he was the officer right? Well then you see the video and the lies are revealed. Just the fact that this guy got released even after this video is showing that there is still corruption and injustice in our law system. Just like in TKAM we still don't have perfect and unbiased trials and law enforcement. With all this news about innocent blacks being shot and corruption in our legal systems we really can see how injustice lives on. Of course not everyone agrees with my opinions but this is my take on it. Everyone has their own thoughts and opinions especially on topics such as this.

Scottsboro Trials Blog 2

The Scottsboro Trials were a series of trials against nine African-American teenagers that were accused of raping two white women while on a train. During the case there was a lack of evidence similar to in TKAM. There were many things wrong with the trial, they were poorly represented, the jury was all white which meant they were all most certain going to be guilty, and they should've been tried in juvenile court. These were kids, people our age and they were accused of rape which is sad that society actually could believe that kids would do this. What I can't believe is reading that during one of the re-trials, one of the victims admitted to fabricating the rape story. Clearly showing their innocence, but yet the lack of justice in the court system strikes again, and when it was all over, all but one of the nine teens were convicted of rape and sentenced to death. The injustice of the court system for the Scottsboro Trials and in general is just like the trial of Tom Robinson, there was a lack of evidence, and an all white jury, that lead to an unfair, wrong verdict of being guilty just because of his race.

Hypocrites Blog 1

"Over here(America) we don't believe in persecuting anybody" - Miss Gates

While talking about Hitler persecuting Jews Miss Gates, Scout's teacher tells the class how America doesn't persecute anyone, and that were not prejudice like Hitler is to the Jews. Which is a little or more like very hypocritical to say since earlier she talked about how its time blacks were taught a lesson. Is Hitler not doing to the Jews what America is doing to people of color at the time? Persecuting a group for no legit reason, except to have an escape goat for all the problems of the depression. This is just like hypocrites today such as one of the biggest Donald Trump. He is just like Miss gates except he is hypocritical towards Mexicans."They're sending people that have lots of problems,and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists". Later in his campaign goes on to say how he loves Mexicans and their spirit. Even though Miss gates wasn't a politician she still was similar to Trump in being a hypocrite. While hers wasn't directly hypocritical to blacks like Trump is to Mexicans she still fails to realize that her hatred towards people of color is the same as how Hitler is persecuting Jews.

friendship = LIFE

• BLOG POST JUAN 

"This time we aren't fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is still our home."
This quotes can show many different expressions . The first sentence says " This time we aren't fighting the Yankees" so this says an expression , like their fighting a famous team . but they are actually referring about fighting their friends from he rest of the quotes!!!! In the second sentence , they seem to make a somewhat promise to the other person , their talking to "But remember this, no matter how bitter things get , their still our friends and this is still our life " so they are explaining that if  that it ever happens again , that it wont happen again and they'll fix fit. The whole thing the quote says is that friendship is very important to them and it won't happen again because of how important it is . The confusing part is that they say that they won't fight their friends but at same time, they say " we're fighting our friends" before saying that they're still our friends and this is still our home !! It's amazing that how people thought back in the 19's but in present time , we kinda still think that , even though its been 50 years or more

bias law

"...If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would have been a free man..." This quote says that the law can be bias. The people that enforce the law can be bias such as in a white man v.s. a black man, the white man wins or if it's a man v.s. a woman a man win usually would win sense women don't have that status of equality. In Pennsylvania a woman got blamed for her own rape. This usually happens because men say things like "she wanted some because of the way she was dressed." The fact that women don't get the justice they should is wrong because rape is something that can ruin a person life. Also men rape does happen but since people see men as a dominant gender so they don't even care. The law isn't just bias, it can also fail to do its job. Johanna Orozco was shot in the face by her former boyfriend. This happened because the system wasn't able to keep him in a juvenile correction center.  I personally think the system can be unfair because of the people that enforcement. We have people that are racist such as Chief Lopez in Durham in Jesus Huerta was claimed to kill himself in the back of a police car while handcuff.

Is it really fair?

"In our courts,when it's a white man's word against a black man's,the white man always win"

Tom Robinson was accused of raping a girl under age. He went to court with the girl he supposedly raped. He went to the court and ended up losing it because at the time of the court white people didn't like black people. What was right was that they went to court. What was wrong was the court should have never happened. Tom didn't do anything so he didn't deserve that. She lied about getting rape. The court was just helping the white girl. What should've happen to make it right is he should've won the court. An event that happened in my life similar to this.

 Dress codes on schools are more harsh on girls than guys. Girls aren't allowed to wear tank tops. I can see why they wouldn't be allowed. They are also not allowed to wear booty shorts. Us guys are allowed to wear pretty much anything but hats. This seems unfair to girls. 

Seperate but equal

"Separate but equal " This quote reminds me about back in the old days about jim crow because back then black people didn't have the same rights as the white did , The black people would suffer alot and not having the same rights as the white . this is wrong because everyone should be equal .

¨The older you grow the more of it you´ll see.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 right into a jury box. As you grow older , you´ll see white men cheat black men every day in your life , but let me tell you something and don´t you forget it- whenever a white man , no matter who he is , how rich he is , or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash ... There´s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who´ll take advantage of a negro´s ignorance. Don´t fool yourselves- it´s all adding up and one of these days we´re going to pay the bill for it. I hope it´s not in you children´s time .¨

 it´s talking about how people are often unfair to black people , how they find a negro guilty on something they wouldn´t do and make a sacrifice on alot of things they wouldn´t do . i've seen in alot of cases on the news where black people would get shot by white men in alot of cases where black men would run and white rather then just hand cuff them they prefer to hit them hard or end up shooting them but i think that all humanity should be equal because we need peace and horror and cops shooting colored people .

Let's Premote the Rich While People!! (Not being racist, just making a joke)

Why do we need photos to vote! I mean seriously, the voter ID law being passed in NC next year, biggest load of BS I have EVER seen!

If you don't know what the ID voter law is, let me explan. A while ago after the representitives of NC were elected, they passed a law that says all voters must provide a photo ID when voting. Now, you may be asking, what's the big deal, I have a drivers license/passport I can present. But, if you are reading this, you probably have a computer and therefor money to spend. A drivers license costs a lot of money,  so does a passport. So, by forcing photo ID, it's cutting off all the people who don't have enough money (which sadly is mostly black, Hispanic, or people in poverty, not being racist, it's just the truth) and therefor they can't vote because they don't have enough money to get a darn ID. This leaves the demographic of Ritch white people who only want more money for themselves and everyone else can rot away to vote for the person who most likely will earn them more cash.

Now, the "reason" they are doing this is because it will prevent voter fraud, but really, they just want to promote capitalist money making crap. AKA, Donald Trump in a nutshell.



"How does this relate to TKAM?" You are at asking. Well, if this law were to pass, it would effect Maycomb very negatively. A lot of Maycomb is poor. Many of them can't even drive. If this were to pass, Maycomb would be completely cut off from voting and interacting with the legal sysptem in many ways. The people who could vote would be the rich people left in Maycomb. This leaves He k Tate, Judge Taylor, and maybe Atticus. Atticus would probably vote for the right person but I definatally wouldn't trust the ruler of the country with Hech Tate.

Because Maycomb is such a poor town, the people who would usually be rich are poor. Like, a lawyer would usually get a lot of money, but look at Atticus. He literally gets payed in chickens. So, is this law were to pass, almost NO ONE is Maycomb could vote because Maycomb is such a poor. Town.

A lot of the black community is also poor. A large majority of the community workes for one guy! They almost all work for Link Dees. Link Dees isn't a very rich guy either. So basically in Maycomb, poor perpetuates poor. It seems to never stop. So long story short, when this law is passes, Maycomb is out of the voting system forever.

Blog 5

A current news story that relates to To Kill a Mockingbird is one about Voting ID laws in North Carolina. "Beginning in 2016, most voters will need to show acceptable photo ID at the polls," the official website reads. Acceptable forms of ID include a drivers license, state ID card, passport, veterans ID card, military ID card, or tribal ID card. This makes it virtually impossible for undocumented immigrants, people who don't drive or deposit checks, and many other groups of people, to vote or contribute to society in other ways. In TKAM, there are prejudices seen every day in Maycomb county. Whether that be big things, like Tom Robinson getting convicted without enough evidence or getting shot 17 times and dying after a few shots, to to things that happen every day, like Scout being looked down for being a girl, or wealth in Maycomb that affects social status and the way people treat each other.

There are obviously many things wrong with this. Voting is a right that EVERYONE should have, no matter it be if you're from a different city, state, country, or continent. Everyone in America came from somewhere else. Denying some people the right to do such a basic thing as vote is just wrong. I hope in a month, North Carolina's government decides to come to their senses.

Blog 5

LINK TO ARTICLE

This is a link to the article Officer in Chicago Shooting Released from Jail. In this article a white police officer charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a black teenager last year was released from jail on Monday after his lawyer pledged that he was not a flight risk and that he intended to mount a vigorous defense at trial.

JUDGE DONALD D. PANARESE JR., OF COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, SET BAIL AT $1.5 MILLION FOR THE OFFICER, JASON VAN DYKE, AFTER WATCHING A VIDEO FROM A POLICE DASHBOARD CAMERA OF THE SHOOTING. HOURS LATER, OFFICER VAN DYKE, THE FIRST CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER IN DECADES TO BE CHARGED WITH MURDER IN AN ON-DUTY SHOOTING, POSTED 10 PERCENT OF THAT, OR $150,000, AND WAS FREED.

(I dont know why that ^^^ all copied over in caps...weird...)

THIS IS A LINK TO A VIDEO

First of all, itś so incredibly wrong that an incident happened like this in the first place. It was flat out murder and brings so much shame to the police department. Regarding the specific of Van Dyke getting out jail in this article, I dont think thatś okay. His bail was set so high for a reason: so he couldnt get out of jail. For him to only pay a percentage and get off easy until is trial? Not cool. 

What SHOULD HAVE happened is he stayed in jail until trial. Flight risk or not, it is not acceptable for a man who has committed such a devastation to be free in the world while awaiting his trial which will expectantly also take a very long time, just giving him more free time.

When reading this article I relate the police officer, Van Dyke, to Bob Ewell. In TKAM Bob Ewell is doing a terrible thing to an underprivileged, black man just as Van Dyke did to McDonald. Thereś nothing Tom Robinson could do about his conviction by a white man and McDonald had no way to stop himself from being shot in cold blood, seventeen times.  I honestly dont believe that the case in Chicago has as much to do with racism as the trial in TKAM. This is because I believe our media blows up racism like CRAZY, yes the shooting had aspects of racism, but I believe it was more of a mixture of that and corruption. But, I dont know the whole story. In TKAM there was a crime that needed to be blamed on someone so it was given to a black man because no one would doubt the word of a white man at the time.

Both these events tie together in the end, in that they are terrible events that should have never happened. 

News Today

News today, huh?

Well...

My mom likes to listen to podcasts, and she started one in the fall of 2014. It's called Serial and like its name, it releases a new podcast every week that is a continuation of the previous.  And I admit, I was just as hooked on the podcast as she was, and couldn't wait for the next one. 

The podcast was an investigative story on a 1999 trial where a senior from Baltimore named Adnan Syed was convicted guilty of murdering his ex girlfriend after she disappeared from school one day.  He claims he is innocent and recently a new witness has surfaced claiming they can testify his alibi the night Hae Min Lee was murdered.  The whole season is about host Sarah Koenig digging into the case after that witness who could free Syed disappears again. Now 35, Syed is getting another hearing due to inadequate evidence and legal representation. 

I know this all sounds super lame and nerdy but podcasts are super cool and you should listen to Serial season one. Season two just started November 24 and its just as super awesome as season one.  Just sayin' ;) ;)

Anyway, back to the book.  This all relates to the injustice and corruption the law has shown through out history.

"We know all men are not created equal in the sense some people would have us believe--some people are smarter than others, some people have more opportunity because they're born with it, some men make more money than others, some ladies make better cakes than other--some people are born gifted beyond the normal scope of most men.
'But there is one way in this country in which all  men are created equal--there is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of any college president.  That institution, gentlemen, is a court...Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.'" (Lee 274)

In Tom Robinson's case, the law was not in his favor, nor in any black person's for that matter at the time.  The same is the case with Hae Min Lee's murder.  I personally believe that he Adnan is innocent, but he was convicted guilty when the corrupt justice system assumed the case was just another stereotypical jealous ex boyfriend kills his ex girlfriend.

Stereotypes.

So often do people assume and stereotype in the justice system in order to move cases along.  Its a sure sign of laziness.  It's not until people uncover these unjust cases and bring it to higher authorities's attention, that there is real justice.  

separate but equal" this is a quote used in the book To Kill A Mocking Bird. this quote stands for the jim crow time period it was a very bad period because blacks couldn't be like white people and that also happened in TKAM with the black person getting put in jail for supposedly  rape when he really didn't. This took place in the year on 1964. I feel like that should have never happened blacks aren't any less because the a different color don't be racist people should have been treated the same  the whole time. being black is not being different  being black is being a human. That is what Atticus is trying to prove from Maycomb.

if its illegal is it really bad?

"Atticus, that's bad" I said. In Maycomb, hunting out of season was a misdemeanor at law, a capital felony in the eyes of the populace.
"it's against the law, all right" said my father.
"and its certainly bad but when a man spends his relief checks n pains. I don't know of any landowner around here who begrudges those children any game their father can hit"
this means that it's okay to break the law when it depends on the life of your children. because yeah its wrong to hunt when its not the season but if  you need to feed your children it does not matter to break the law. (that is the opinion of atticus).
In my onion he does have a point in saying that but if you need to feed your children you do wherever you have to do to feed them. On the news theirs always people who sell drugs because they dont have any other opportunities to have money so they sell drugs.

Law one

"If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man,' said Atticus. 'So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail. When that crew went away, they didn’t go as reasonable men, they went because we were there. There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.'"  

            As we read in the book By Harper lee How to kill a mocking bird we See a trail which has a large connection in real life where an unjust jury and court system. In real life the american justice system to prosecute black African Americans specifically men. Famous trails being Emmett till who two men then beat him nearly to death, gouged out his eye, shot him in the head, and then threw his body, tied to the cotton-gin fan with barbed wire, into the river, James byrd who had his neck tied to a rope and on the other end of the rope was a Chevrolet pick up truck where he was dragged until his head was ripped off.

  

         Anyways the point is that black men have always gottenthe shot end of the stick and will continue to for a long long time.

Blog 1

"I do. I guess it's to protect our frail ladies from sordid cases like Tom's. Besides," Atticues grinned, "I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried-the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions." page: 296

This section of the book stuck out to me because of the way Atticus so carelessly puts down women. This whole book he seems like the good, sensible guy who thinks everyone should be equal. But no, this does not expand to the rights of women. He still beliefs that women are too "fragile" and not "sensible enough" to stand on a jury, think for themselves, and make important decisions.

In today's society men and women are created equal...sometimes. I know in the "adult world" there's all sorts of problems with women not getting the same pay and all that but I want to talk about the way girls are treated in the "teenage world."

Now let's get a little personal here, just a few weeks ago, I liked this guy. Everything was great, we held hands, texted every night, and I was treated as if I was the only one for him. He was older than me so I always had that little suspicion in the back of my head thinking I was getting played, was I just a little freshman getting played by a junior? But I pushed it away. Problems ended up arising and things didn't work out. It's funny how after a relationship you find all the flaws. People started telling me he was talking to another girl too, didn't tell his friends about me, acted as if a relationship was in the future with me but told me not yet then gets an official girlfriend two weeks after we break up? Yeah, real nice guy. Accuses me for ruining the relationship when I got mad over something little he did when it could have easily been fixed by a simple apology on both our parts.

Differing from in TKAM, women are now allowed to serve on the jury. It's law that our courts have a diverse society. That's great. But there's so much more to change.

Even now, in this society, men put down women. We're put down as less sensible and just toys to be played with. Not cool. Not cool at all. Throughout time, we deserve respect. Respect in the fact that we are important, independent individuals.

The Trial

"The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a court room, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box." (Lee 295)

Now, because I didn't really incorporate history into my last blog post, I thought I might as well include some in this one, and maybe, just maybe, this last desperate attempt will be considered in my grade ;) ;)

I am not the best at blogging.  I am not the best at expressing my opinion when there are so many other stronger ones out there in the world.  A man's word is a strong thing, something that can take another man's will and strangle it until it gives into any strong-worded man.  Opinions and actions are what define us humans, and actions are the result of opinions.  People are more likely to listen to you if you are speaking loudly.  Now I don't know if you are following what I'm saying so I'll rephrase it:
-Strong opinions are heard and listened to.
-People like when someone is confident in what they say.
-People will follow someone who has an a mindset they follow and are consistent with.

"They're ugly, but those are the facts of life.'" (Lee 295)

Let's bring this into a scenario.

Joseph McCarthy, Wisconsin's senator from 1947 to 1957 (the Cold War), is one of the most famous anti-communists known in American history.  Known for his numerous accusations of American politicians and celebrities being Soviet sympathizers and the origin of the term McCarthyism, McCarthy was an extremely strong opinionated man.  And at the time, Americans strongly followed his beliefs, partially because of their high from beating Germany out in World War II, but also because we follow leaders with passion.  When did we stop and look at the reason behind McCarthy's accusations?

When do people ever stop and appeal to the humanity's case instead of someone else's band-wagonned opinion?

"'I say guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her.  She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with.  She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white." (Lee 272)

But then I suppose that society has taught us to hole up our humanity so that we may adapt willingly to society's expectations.

Society- The unspoken rules, the whispered procedures, that any and all people must live by in order to survive this retched hell in which neighbor judges neighbor before either can walk out of his or her door.  This damned society where no one will ever be equal and happy about it, or be able to look at a complete stranger in the face and say, "You have just as good a chance in this world as me."

No one will ever be able to create a perfect society when there are strong-minded, stubborn people alive.  It's not just blacks, or homosexuals, or Jews who are prejudged.

And its not the fault of every white man and women during that era for believing something they were brought up believing.

It's no body's fault so stop playing the blame game.

Do not believe that any racist white or black man who was raised to believe something can simply say they shouldn't be prejudice because every one is created equal.  People do not change that easily.  People change but only because of another person.

Atticus Finch appealed to the human side of every witness.  He nearly broke through to Mayella Ewell, but some believe an abusive father is enough to stand between justice and injustice.

"'Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?"
No answer.
"What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don't you tell the truth, child, didn't Bob Ewell beat you up?"
When Atticus turned away from Mayella he looked like his stomach hurt, but Mayella's face was a mixture of terror and fury.  Atticus sat down wearily and polished his glasses with his handkerchief." (Lee 251)

Fear is a powerful thing.

I do not believe that Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell.  I believe so because of his crippled left arm.  I do not believe that he is not guilty because the jury said he was guilty on account of racism.  I do not believe a fair trial means someone is innocent.  I believe the justice system is corrupt.  I do not believe every black man convicted guilty for any crime is because the jury is racist.  I believe there is a reason for every opinion, every single one, and that opinion should be heard and taken into consideration.

Society and the law means that every truth is based on opinion.

Blog 4

Respond to the trial! Wow. This might take a while.

To set the scene, let me say that this all takes place in the Maycomb County courthouse. It's an old, rustic building with plenty of seats for everyone.

The first person to vow to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth So Help Him God was Heck Tate, Maycomb County Sheriff. He's describing the events of the night of November 21st. Mayella Ewell, he describes, is "pretty well beat up... I asked her who hurt her and she said it was Tom Robinson." For Atticus' cross-examination, he asks if anyone called a doctor and if not, why not. They didn't because "no one thought about it at the time." Also, almost all of the bruises she got were on her right side, which means whoever hit her had to be left-handed.

Next up was Robert E. Lee Ewell, Mayella's father. He supposedly "heard Mayella screamin' like a stuck hog inside the house" and saw "the black n*****  yonder ruttin' on my Mayella!" Really lovely word choice there, Rob. For Atticus' cross-examination, he asked logistical questions and we find out that he is left-handed.

Then came Mayella Ewell. She's young, unsure of herself. Her testimony included asking Tom to bust up her chiffarobe, fighting back, and fainting after it's all done. Atticus' cross-examination starts off very weird - he calls Mayella ma'am and asks if she has friends and she thinks he is trying to mock her. He asks her about specificites, to which she replies, "He got me around the neck cussin' and sayin' dirt" Atticus asks her if it was not Robinson who raped her, but her father. There's a long pause. Then she starts yelling, her "shoulders shook with angry sobs", and she refuses to answer anymore questions. There is a ten minute break. I'm sure it felt an awful lot longer than ten minutes.

Tom Robinson is called to the stand. He's a strongly-built man, but one defining feature about him is that his left arm is a foot shorter than his right. His testimony is something along the lines of this. Mayella has been calling him to do odd jobs for her for over half a year, without pay, before any of this happened. One day, he goes inside to fix her perfectly good door, turns around, and she's grabbing onto his legs. He doesn't know what to do, and is even more confused when she hugs him around the waist. Then she kisses him, Mr. Ewell sees, and he runs out of the house for the life of him.

Now it's time for Mr. Gilmer's cross-examination. Without an ounce of respect in his voice, he makes assumptions about Robinson's strength, his willingness to do odd jobs for Mayella without pay, and why he ran away so fast if he was innocent. 

Tom Robinson, at the verdict, was guilty.

Now, there's a whole lot of things wrong with this. There are way too many racist remarks to even keep count of, so as a whole, the thing that was wrong with this was the bias in the room. I don't even know who I believe in this case, in 2015, so the jury shouldn't have been able to decide that quickly and unanimously. The unquestionable bias in the room was such a big factor in this case that it was hard for the jury to hear anyone else. This obviously shouldn't have happened. There should've been no bias.

(I know this is really, REALLY long. I'm wrapping it up.)

This is still evident in today's world. 

The TKAM Trial

Today I'm going to be talking about the trial in TKAM. Hopefully you all have been keeping up with your reading and I don't spoil something and if I do you really need to catch up on reading. Anyway, let's go over the basics of what happened in the trial. (The next paragraph is basically a summary of the trial if you know everything about it, feel free to skim)

Okay so, Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson are all give their side of the story. Heck Tate says he was called by Bob Ewell on the night of November twenty-first. Mr.Ewell told Heck Tate that a n-word had just raped his daughter. He found Mayella lying on the ground, beat up and asked who had beat her, to which she responded with Tom Robinson. No doctor was called and he states that she was mostly beat up on her right side. Next Bob Ewell his called and he says on the night of November 21st he was coming from the woods and heard Mayella screaming. He then sees Tom Robinson taking advantage of Mayella. He then ran and got Tate. We then find out that Bob is left handed making him a good candidate for beating Mayella. Next Mayella tells her story. she says she was on the porch and called tom over to chop up a chifferobe. she then says Tom grabbed her and began to beat and took advantage of her. Atticus then questions her a ton and figures out that she is unsure and uneasy about the events that took place that night. All of her facts don't add up like at all. She also never seems to know answers to anything and if she does she changes them often.

Tom Robinson then tells his side of the story he says that he has done chores for Mayella before and that she came on to him. This is very different from what the other witnesses are saying. I think he's telling the truth because lets be real do you really think Mayella, Bob and Tate would tell the complete truth. There is also the whole thing where Mayella changes her answers and is confused about what to say. Her body language also tells us shes super nervous as seen in the quote: "Mayella jumped slightly at the question."(pg.246)  She is clearly terrified of saying the wrong thing. Anyway during Tom's questioning we find out that his left hand was crippled in a cotton gin accident. This pretty much is sating that tom could not have committed the crime.

  Let's see, why is Tom innocent? Well we know that Mayella was beat on her right side, meaning someone must have done it with there left hand. This rules out Tom because his left hand is non functioning. Tom also states that he heard Bob Ewell say "you god-damn whore, I'll kill ya." (pg.260 also sorry about the language in the quote) which tells us that Bob Ewell was both left handed and violent, meaning it is highly likely he abused Mayella. But we know that Bob Ewell is not convicted and Tom is, why because everyone decides to take Mayella and Bob's side. It really does make me mad because of how many clear facts were overlooked. A lot of straightforward things were also overlooked. This whole convicting someone without evidence reminds me of the Scottsboro trial where 9 boys were convicted of rape with no clear evidence. Let's be real if this were a trial today this probably wouldn't have happened.

Thanks for reading, I know it was a little long but I tend to add random details. In conclusion Tom should not have been convicted and Bob should have. As always comment if you want( luv the feedback) and be nice in the comments as well. I am going to sleep now.

TKAM Trial

In the TKAM trial, many different things happened. In fact there was so much to keep track of, my mind decided to kill itself halfway through the trial chapters. Yay! (Obvious sarcasm is obvious).

Anyway, the basic synopsis of the trial is; Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell claims that he herd Mayella scream, he went to his house, saw Tom running from his house, and saw Mayella laying on the floor. Heck Tate claims that Bob came to him and said "A n**** is raping my daughter." Then he went there and saw Mayella on the floor beaten and raped. Tom says that he went there to chop up a Chiff-a-robe. When he got there, Mayella tried to kiss him and do stuff. Tom ran because he was scared of Bob and he knew that this would be tried and accused of kissing her. Mayella said that she asked him to chop up the Chiff-a-robe but when he got inside, he raped and beat her. Also, she was strangled and beaten on her right side of her face. This is interesting because Tom's left hand is injured and he can't hit her with that hand making it impossible for her to hit her on the right side of her face. Also, he can't strangle her because of said injured arm.

I think that instead of Tom being convicted of guilty, Bob should have been. It was him who hit Mayella because he's left handed and therefor could hit her on her right side. He also has the most motive and most capable of doing it.

This can be related to Atticus when he said "walk around in another mans skin." I be leave that Atticus is doing this because he feels sorry for him and understands him because he saw what's going on with Tom and defended him because of that.

TKAM and The Great Depression

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when i first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop... somehow it was hotter then... bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum."

Lee chapter 1 page 6

In TKAM we see all sorts of people affected by the great depression. we see it through the Cunningham family, who are farmers and afford pretty much anything. Since all the farmers are broke and can't afford services the people who do the services are also broke. All of this can be seen through this dialogue between scout and Atticus: "Not exactly the Cunninghams are country folk, farmers, and the crash hit'm the hardest.""Atticus said professional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb county was a farm country, nickles and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers." I will also note that there is a mention of the WPA (work progress administration) which was part of the new deal that FDR put into action to help combat the depression.

Yeah this quote is a bit of a throwback to chapter one page 6, and yes it was longer that what I typed but you can look it up if you want the extra detail. Anyway sit back enjoy my energy drink induced blog extravaganza. As you probably know this is the part of the book where scout is describing Maycomb to us. We get our first glimpse into what life in the small southern town would be like. We see the slow paced town with its old fashioned values. We can see this through the description of the men in collared shirts and ladies using talcum powder. The last part of the quote also makes a reference to FDR who said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." during his inauguration speech which just happened to be in the same time period as TKAM. This quote is leading into other parts of the book that show the great depression in action.

So to recap: what wrong in Maycomb county? Well, Maycomb county(as we know) is farmer based meaning the depression hit them pretty hard. There is no work for farmers meaning no work for everyone else. The crash of the stock market was the main cause of the depression and left a ton of people out of work. So, how could it have been fixed? You see I'm not into solving government problems but you know who was, FDR. FDR created the new deal since he knew WWII would only be temporary fix. The deal consisted of multiple programs to help create jobs and fix up the government. 

Wow that was a lot of thinking but, remember there could have been multiple reasons the depression occurred and could have been fixed. Oh, and comment if you want to. I love to read feedback and comments help me improve. Just be nice plz I can be a lil sensitive. 

"Jem opened the box.  Inside, surrounded by wads of damp cotton, was a white, waxy, perfect camellia.  It was a Snow-on-the-Mountain...
Jem picked up the candy box and threw it in the fire.  He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the white petals."

Imagine having a neighbor whom you believe made it their personal mission to torment you.  That was Ms. Dubose.
I believe according to Atticus, you never mock the dead.  No matter how terrible they were in life, they have it far worse in death.  They greatest gift is life, so why despise those who had that gift taken from them?
And to have them give you something that says they wanted you to know they thought highly of you before they died, shows true character.  But to then rip up that memento is even more disrespectful than mocking the living.
Jem could have just as easily taken the flower and cherished it but instead made the ignorant decision to burn it. I essence, he burned one of the only remaining earthen forms of Mrs. Dubose's spirit.
That shows a lot of what kind of simple minded person Jem is.
But of course youth is always accompanied by ignorance.

Blog 2

"'One more thing, gentlemen, before I quit. Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side of the Executive branch are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions."

I'm not sure if Atticus meant to call 1935 "the year of grace". It's a weird word choice. I'm not sure if grace is the right word to describe the year when the dust bowl was at its peak, the strongest hurricane to ever hit the US hit, and the repercussions of the Great Depression 6 years before were still in full effect. While there were many natural disasters, also many laws were passed in 1935, such as the New Deal/WPA, National Labor Relations act, the Social Security Act, and many more. Laws aren't usually passed without a backlash, debate, or tension. Atticus is the speaker here, and he is saying this in his closing remarks in the Ewell/Robinson trial. He is addressing everyone, and I imagine that the room is quiet with anticipation.

The thing that was wrong about this is not that this wasn't true about 1935, but that it was. This is a good representation of how it was in 1935, whether people liked it or not. The fact is that people were not created equal, then or now. Not everyone has the same opportunities to be successful as everyone else, whether that be trying to make a clock for a science project but being accused of it being a bomb, or being supposedly shot because of a misdemeanor but really because of the color of your skin. Not everyone is created equal.

What should've, but obviously didn't, happen is that no one has any type of bias in their life and everyone treats everyone how they want to be treated. We still have an awfully long way to go in both regards.

Maycomb History Problems

Starting in chapter 16 of TKAM, Tom Robinson goes on trial for raping Mayella Ewell. This part of the book is very similar to a real life event that occurred in 1931. Nine African Americans were accused of raping two white american women. Both these events are super similar in  that they both involved black men (man) raping white women (woman). The accusations are extremity similar, it is unknown if these men actually did rape these women, but they did get arrested and put in jail with little to no evidence against them. The accusations of the two seem too similar. I believe that Harper Lee took inspiration from this event to create a controversial topic in her book. To recap, both in the book and in real life, black man or men raped white woman or women. They were accused of being rapers with not much evidence backing this up. Hmmmmmmmm...Seems interesting. Also seems racist.

Since I'm in honers, I have to do another one. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I'm now getting really sassy. And now I'm breaking the fourth wall. I'M DOING SO WELL!

Anyway, lets not ADHD ourselves too off topic.

Anyway, *looks through book* well since I just spent about 20 minutes looking for that page so I could quote it (no seriously, I just spent about 20 minutes looking for a page) I'm instead just gonna summarize it and hope I don't get points taken off. In one of the earlier chapters, Bob Ewell is very poor. This is much like many people were in the great depression. But, tying him even more to the great depression, it claims that he accepts no help from others and is extremely stubborn to take any help from others. This is very similar to how people reacted to financial help from the government in the actual great depression era. The accepted almost no help from the government or help at all from others.

When Do You Have To Obey The Law?

"'Let us leave it at this," said Atticus dryly.  "You, Miss Scout Finch, are of the common folk.  You must obey the law.'" (Lee 40)

When Scout Finch questions the reasoning behind attending school, she goes to her father, Atticus Finch, for answers, as she has always done.  The Ewells have lived generations based upon a first-day-of-school-attendance-only streak that had no intention of ending with the latest generation: Burris Ewell.  Scout's resistance to school is understandable but her father's belief that some are above the law is, perhaps, teetering on the controversial side.
In my opinion, no one is above the law or below it in a perfect society.  Nowadays the law is less of a set of rules and more of a social standard.  Little does it treat all fairly, which is why the law bringing equality is impossible.  It creates inequality for never can a world such as ours uphold to the standards of carrying it out thoroughly.  What causes it to have such a strong denotation of inequality is the fact that it effects every one's political, economic, and social status in varying blows.  For example, a man who accumulates a $30,000 annual income will suffer more so than one who accumulates $200,000, if both were to receive a speeding ticket of equal value. This will result in the man with a lower income to believe the government unjust to the lower societies and the wealthier man to believe he can afford to repeatedly break the law.
So it may seem as though the only way for all to obey the law is to give a punishment with equal value to all humans.  This, in theory, is death.  Now you must realize that if the law's punishment is death, all would obey it, but it would induce a tyrannical and military-based society with a high tolerance of violence.  That is hardly a utopia, yet the law is equal. so perhaps equal law should not be our goal, but allowing factors outside of morality and humanity to not affect the judicial syste

Made up laws in Maycomb County?

"Atticus, you must be wrong...."

"How's that?"

"Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong..."

"They're certainly entitled to think that, and there entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."

-Lee pg.139-140

As you probably know in this part of the book we see scout and Atticus discussing why so many of the people in Maycomb county seem to have something against him. Me and you both know its because of the Tom Robinson trial and how people think it is very wrong for Atticus to be defending a black man. Not only is that dumb but it also causes Atticus' actions to look illegal when in reality its not and Atticus knows this.These people are creating unwritten but followed laws. We see another example of people making up laws when Miss Caroline tells scout to stop letting her father teach her. That rule she made up is definitely not real and is just something she uses because in her opinion she teaches best. Yeah, because you can definitely make your own rules and laws that other people have to follow.(That was supposed to be sarcastic.)


Let me help you out little bit more with what i'm trying to say because I'm not the best at explaining things. Basically all these "rules" and "laws" make up the society standards and norms for Maycomb county. Not only do these standards affect everyday people who are different but they influence the actual law as well. We know that the people of Maycombs opinions are strong, strong enough to have influence over things such as trials. This still happens today with peoples opinions clouding the real laws. Everyday we catch people discriminating when its illegal, they think their opinion is above the law when its not. I see all sorts of people get discriminated against because someone else's opinion is apparently correct and more important. Personally, simply being a teen has caused people to create rules or not take me seriously. People are quick to think teens are reckless and don't deserve the same treatment as adults. Not only is that treating people unfairly but it can be mentally damaging as well. It is wrong that people put their opinions first, even before the law, it is right to treat everyone fairly and follow the law that is in place.

My one solution: Treat others how you would want to be treated, follow the law, and don't make up laws and rules just because you want to, also don't discriminate it's illegal. You doing this helps the world be a better place which makes Pepe and I very happy.

Unwritten Rules and Laws are Dumb

"I suppose she chose me because she knew my name; as I read the alphabet a faint line appeared between her eyebrows, and after making me read most of My First Reader and the stock-market quotations from The Mobile Register aloud, she discovered I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste. Miss Caroline told me to tell my father not to teach me any more, it would interfere with my reading." Lee Page 22

Now, I can guess what you're all wondering. What does this even mean? Well, I can read your minds. All of them.
Actually, this to me is basically the dumbest thing ever.

Let me explain, have you ever played a game, lets use 4-square. You hit the ball to one person and they say you're out. You ask why and they say something so nit-picky it makes you want to tear their hair out until their scalp bleeds. Yes, we have all had that one kid, that one infuriating small child who kills you inside. To me, Miss Caroline is this kid to Scout. Miss Caroline is making up rules and restrictions that aren't written because she basically wants to, or she has the power too.
Now, I can see why she would invent these "laws" restricting Scout. It could interfere with the class's curriculum and/or class plans, but really, do you have to make up laws?
I never believed in unwritten laws and rules. Besides logical unwritten laws (don't throw sharp things, don't kill people, dumb things like that) unwritten rules are dumb. Don't go to the bathroom during dinner, don't call people dumb. Why do they exist? I understand most of them, but some of them, I mean really do we need a rule that says (or doesn't say) that we can't be on our phone at lunch at school? Miss Caroline seems to be a very passionate person on unwritten rules, and I don't really think she's a great person.

So yeah,
Summary of the post, dumb unwritten rules are stupid and Miss Caroline is stupid.

Blog 1

"'For a number of reasons,' said Atticus. 'The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again."

This quote happens right after when Atticus is telling Scout, the narrator, about everything he's gotten himself into. He decided to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, against the rape of Mayella Ewell, and why many people in Maycomb county don't agree with his choice to defend Tim. Atticus made the right to decision to defend the man because he is a good man who didn't mean any harm. A wrong decision in this was the backlash that the town gave him and, later, his own family. The law should have no bias or prejudice in it, but it's hard in this time period. This will also be comparable to events that happen later in the book that there is foreshadowing for right now. Also, the unfairness of the law is always prevalent in society, especially in events recently concerning terrorism.