To Kill a Mockingbird | Teen Ink

To Kill a Mockingbird

June 8, 2015
By ashtonsd BRONZE, Atascadero, California
ashtonsd BRONZE, Atascadero, California
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character” Martin Luther King Jr stated “ that is the goal of true education.” In other words education is a main concept of life and many African Americans do not get into schools, College, or jobs.therefore other races are taught and believe that African Americans are different and lesser than them. To Kill a Mockingbird portrays this in several different ways through text and through different people in the book.


Many African Americans have disadvantages in schools because of their color and jobs. According to census.gov “19.3% of balcks have a bachelors degree or higher.” This shows that African American’s education is low, and harder for them to proceed in getting a good education. Also it is harder for blacks to get jobs than it is for any other race, this is shown by Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell’s differences. Thinkprogress.org conveys ”a black college student has the same chances of getting a job as a white high school dropout” Showing that blacks have less of a chance of getting good education or jobs.


Another problem that blacks have is segregation which is making education worse. US Education: Still Separate But Unequal states “Part of the difference in educational outcomes likely stems from the different environments black and white children live in during their school years. Black children are less likely than white or Hispanic children to live in households where at least one parent has secure employment, and black children have the greatest rate of any race for families with children living in homeless shelters. Nearly 25% of black parents report their children live in unsafe neighborhoods, compared with 7% of white parents.”  Projecting that blacks and other races live different circumstances and types of areas. “The colored balcony ran along 3 walls of the courtroom like a second story veranda and from it we could see everything” (164) Scout explained. In the Quarters Court the blacks had to sit in the back on the balcony in the courtroom, showing that they couldn’t sit with the white crowd.


Discrimination is also a big thing in the story and today. “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” (220) States Atticus firmly. To Kill a Mockingbird shows discrimination towards blacks throughout the book but the most important part are of Tom Robinson, also the differences are portrayed from Harper Lee through Atticus Finch.


Education is important for everyone to have,without it people are treated unequally and unfairly. The book To Kill A Mockingbird and research shows how much this happens. When someone doesn’t have a good education they are considered inadequate and mean, when people like Tom Robinson are very kind, trustworthy, and smart.



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