Small Town Mentality Contributes to Racism
Small Town Mentality Contributes to Racism
In the 21st century, the small town of Jena, segregated in rural Louisiana still demonstrates the same values of racism that were shown in To Kill a Mockingbird and Mississippi Burning. At Jena High School, white students sit under the shaded white tree, while black students sit at the worn out benches. One day in September 2006, an African American freshman sat under the “white tree”. The following day, a few white kids expressed their disapproval by hanging three nooses from the tree, a forceful reminder of lynching’s in the South. This leaves us thinking, is the small town mentality a major contribution to racism?
Mississippi Burning is a movie based on real life events. Two FBI agents, Mr Anderson and Mr Ward, investigate the deaths of three college students; a black man and two Jewish college students. This causes an up rawl in the small town of Mississippi. While To Kill a Mockingbird is a story set in the fictional town of Maycomb about a man’s unpopularity when he fights for a Negros justice. These are two stories based in old-fashioned towns that both have small town values. Both of these texts reveal the racist nature of America in the 1930s and 1960s, and are still present in the 21st century. This proves that African Americans have been, and continue to be the victims of racial discrimination.
Throughout the film, we watch how FBI agent Mr Anderson comes into Mississippi with the intention to uncover the conspiracy of silence in the small southern town to find out who murdered the three civil rights workers. Mr Anderson tries changing the white people’s opinions towards the coloured people in the community by convincing them that they shouldn’t be on equal terms with eachother.
To Kill a Mockingbird shows the same type of discrimination when Atticus Finch, a lawyer who is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality, agrees to defend Tom Robinson as he was wrongly accused
In the 21st century, the small town of Jena, segregated in rural Louisiana still demonstrates the same values of racism that were shown in To Kill a Mockingbird and Mississippi Burning. At Jena High School, white students sit under the shaded white tree, while black students sit at the worn out benches. One day in September 2006, an African American freshman sat under the “white tree”. The following day, a few white kids expressed their disapproval by hanging three nooses from the tree, a forceful reminder of lynching’s in the South. This leaves us thinking, is the small town mentality a major contribution to racism?
Mississippi Burning is a movie based on real life events. Two FBI agents, Mr Anderson and Mr Ward, investigate the deaths of three college students; a black man and two Jewish college students. This causes an up rawl in the small town of Mississippi. While To Kill a Mockingbird is a story set in the fictional town of Maycomb about a man’s unpopularity when he fights for a Negros justice. These are two stories based in old-fashioned towns that both have small town values. Both of these texts reveal the racist nature of America in the 1930s and 1960s, and are still present in the 21st century. This proves that African Americans have been, and continue to be the victims of racial discrimination.
Throughout the film, we watch how FBI agent Mr Anderson comes into Mississippi with the intention to uncover the conspiracy of silence in the small southern town to find out who murdered the three civil rights workers. Mr Anderson tries changing the white people’s opinions towards the coloured people in the community by convincing them that they shouldn’t be on equal terms with eachother.
To Kill a Mockingbird shows the same type of discrimination when Atticus Finch, a lawyer who is one of the few residents of Maycomb committed to racial equality, agrees to defend Tom Robinson as he was wrongly accused