Oppression Post Three: The Trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, A Flawed Jury and Underlying Racism led to this preposterous defeat. By Oliver Egger

Oppression Post Three: The Trial in To Kill a Mockingbird, A Flawed Jury and Underlying Racism led to this preposterous defeat. By Oliver Egger

As you know if you have once glanced down at to To Kill a Mockingbird is that Tom Robinson was innocent all a long. What lead to Tom's conviction was not the evidence but the racism so deeply imbedded in that southern culture. All the testimonies are completely false in this book. Mayella and Bob are lying to try to avoid the situation at hand and blame it on a black man. For example proof of there lies can be seen when on page 241 Mayella says referring to Tom Robinson, "He hit me agin an' agin" and then only a few moments later on page 247 and 248 when Atticus asks, "Do you remember him beating you about the face?" The answer to that question if this was truthful would have been a clear yes her answer (after long silence as she thought up a lie) was, "No, I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me." Are you kidding me? Minutes after she said he "Hit me agin an' agin" she can't even remember if she did hit her. Did I forget to mention that she had bruises on the right side of her face and Tom couldn't even use his left hand to leave such blows or injuries? Its lies and the jury knows that and thats whats tragic. These people are so lost in their white privilege and desire to meet the status quo of that time that they convict an innocent black man when all the evidence points way from that fact. What should have happened would never happen but it should have been Bob Ewell being the one convicted for abusing her daughter who even admits she can tolerate Bob but not when he's drinking. The jury knows the true story but they are lost in their skin color and they burn there opportunity to actually save Tom and take steps to disband the racist culture. But of course they tragically could not be so radical and diverge so much from the oppressive norm of southern society. This oppression is seen today and back in the time this book was set. For example a tragic case in Georgia back in 1945. The case was Lena Baker who killed her employer Ernest Knight who kind kidnapped her and kept her in his house assaulting her. When he threatened her with an iron bar she found a gun and shot him, killing him. She reported the case immediately to the police where she was arrested instantaneously. She went to court and the jury sat there all white and all male and they saw and knew she acted in self defense (for all the evidence showed that) but to meet the status quo they convicted her. Her state appointed lawyer then dropped her as a client leaving no optional for an appeal. On March 5, 1945 she was executed by the electric chair (in 2005 the state of Georgia granted her an unconditional pardon admitting the case was flawed and in fact she was of course innocent. ) Lena, Tom Robinson and many more are an example of trials completely mishandled and wrong because the jury was lost in the racist oppressive flow of society and didn't dare open their mouths to the atrocities they let occur. Tom is just a character but he is a symbol for the oppression the Scottsboro boys faced and Ed Brown and Arthur Ellington and Henry Shields and of course Lena Baker all felt. The oppression was unthinkable, let us not forget these unthinkable acts of oppression, no let us reminisce and remember that age of inequality so we can make the future one blooming with the values of equality that we all strive for.

Lena Baker's mug shot.