Racial Injustice Explored in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

In Chapter 12 of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals the injustice of racism and segregation. Scout and Jem, protagonists of the story, go to Calpurnia's church for a Sunday while Atticus is away on business. To Scout's and Jem's surprise, Calpurnia's black church is very different from the white church that they usually attend. Lee evokes sympathy for the black community of Maycomb Alabama by focusing on poor education opportunities, poor employment opportunities, and strong segregation as challenges for the black community.

Education was a problem for the African American community in Maycomb because racism was an issue. The church ceremony was formatted in "linin" this is a type of call and response; it was used because hymn-books "wouldn't do any good" (124). Most members of the church couldn't read because they were not allowed in school. After this, Calpurnia explains she taught Zeebo, her son, how to read from "Blackstone's Commentaries" claiming them to be "the only books [she] had" (125). The lack of reading material was another obstacle that contributed to the low level of learning; Calpurnia was lucky to have those few books. Later, Jem has a realization that Calpurnia is one of the few more-educated members of her church: "That's why you don't talk like the rest of 'em" (125). Jem is referring to the type of speech that most African Americans use at the church; it is very uneducated sounding whereas Calpurnia speaks with more fluency outside the confines of her black community. Overall, educated life is more difficult to come by in a black community because African American children are not given the same opportunities to learn as their white counterparts.

Because most African Americans have low levels of education, and just because they are black, fewer rewarding jobs are given to them. When Reverend Sykes asks for money to donate to Helen Robinson, it is difficult for people to afford just ten dollars collectively because black people do not make as much money as white people do in Maycomb: "Slowly, painfully, the ten dollars was collected" (123). The word painfully implies that there was a struggle to get the members of the church to collectively come up with ten dollars. African Americans also have a hard time finding jobs because mostly work for them is field labor. Reverend Sykes is predicting that soon, Helen Robinson will get a job "when it's picking time" (123). When it is not harvest season, there is no need to hire. Furthermore, the graveyard next to the church is unkempt; nobody can take up that job because all the jobs go toward supporting the families, and there would be little pay for cleaning the graveyard since the community has no money to pay people: "A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones" (118). Generally speaking, a black person has a much more difficult time finding a decent-paying job than a white person does in Maycomb, Alabama.

Lee also demonstrates injustice being done to the black community through segregation. The churches are divided in this town; there is one for the white people and one for the black people. In the black church, Lula, one of the members, looks down upon Calpurnia for "bringin' white chillun to a [black] church" (119). Lula is not fond of the idea of mixing the two races; she wants to keep things segregated. After the service, Scout asks Calpurnia "Cal, can I come see you sometimes?" (126). Scout lives on another side of town from Calpurnia and has never been to the black community before the day she went to the church. They live on opposite sides of town because segregation keeps lives separate. In addition, this town is very segregated because, during court, the African American people have to view the trial from the "Colored balcony" separated from the white people on the ground floor (164). Conclusively, segregation plays a big part in what makes the difference between the black and white communities so drastic.

Infrequent education options, scarce job choices, and strict segregation all contribute to the sympathy felt towards the black community. When there is such hatred over something that can not be helped, people need to rethink their justifications for judgment. Racism is less known but it is still far too known for comfort.