Atticus is one of the best examples of someone who combats racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.
In Lee's novel, Atticus is the moral compass that represents one of the strongest forces in combatting racism. He repeatedly displays this in the novel. One example of this is in taking up Tom Robinson's case. Atticus believes that all citizens should enjoy the right to a fair trial. This political sentiment of equality mirrors his own belief...
Atticus is one of the best examples of someone who combats racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.
In Lee's novel, Atticus is the moral compass that represents one of the strongest forces in combatting racism. He repeatedly displays this in the novel. One example of this is in taking up Tom Robinson's case. Atticus believes that all citizens should enjoy the right to a fair trial. This political sentiment of equality mirrors his own belief system. He says this to Scout after she asks him about how other townspeople are calling him a "lover" of people of color: "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." When Atticus addresses issues of race, he speaks in a manner that transcends discrimination:
... the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.
Atticus combats racism because he seeks to transcend it. In the lessons he teaches to Jem and Scout and in what he embodies in his own condition, he fights racism. While others in the town succumb to it, Atticus actively combats racism and discrimination by emphasizing the humanity within all people.
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