The Status of Native Culture and Identity In Contemporary Society Depicted In Thomas King’s Borders free essay sample

Thomas King’s Borders, is a first person narrative designed to represent the continuing loss of identity experienced by the native population in contemporary North America. Borders tells the story of a native family living on a reservation located close to the Albertan-Montanan boarder in Western Canada. The protagonist of Borders is the unnamed mother of the family, who by refusing to properly state her nationality, is not allowed to cross the border with her young son. When asked to state her nationality by the border authorities, the mother answers â€Å"Blackfoot. † This confuses the border guards, who are expecting the general answer of â€Å"American† or â€Å"Canadian. † The mother refuses to generalize her ethnicity as distinctly American or Canadian, which results in the family’s inability to cross the border line. King draws on the use of satire in Borders to comically address the lack of identity attributed to natives in contemporary society. We will write a custom essay sample on The Status of Native Culture and Identity In Contemporary Society Depicted In Thomas King’s Borders or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This essay will critically examine King’s work to showcase the function of figurative cultural borders in modern day society, as well as the concerning issue of native identity in the text. The mother’s proud refusal to equate her racial background with citizenship, Laetita’s attitude toward her cultural identity as a Blackfoot in the text, and the treatment of the narrator and his mother by the border authorities: all illustrate the cultural and political position of King’s text. King showcases the loss of native’s unique cultural identity to the pressures of assimilation, while also providing a political commentary on the treatment of native peoples and native culture in contemporary North America. As the protagonist of the text, the mother’s racial pride and stubbornness comes to the forefront in terms of thematic elements harboured in King’s work. The mother’s conservative attitude creates a significant tension in the introduction of the text. The narrator’s older sister named Laetita is moving across the border to Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City. Laetita is enamoured with the prospects of moving away from her family, while her Mother is noticeably unimpressed with the idea of her daughter living so far away from home. â€Å"â€Å"This is really lousy coffee. † â€Å"You’re just angry because I want to see the world. † â€Å"It’s the water. From here down, they got lousy water†Ã¢â‚¬  (King, 355). This passage showcases the mother’s negative views of America by King’s use of the word â€Å"lousy. † â€Å"Lousy,† is used to describe the coffee the mother and Laetita purchased on the American side of the border. â€Å"From here down† refers to the mother’s opinion of American water being inferior to Canadian water. The mother’s negative attitude towards the American water is indicative of her connection to the simplistic nature of native culture. While Laetita is attracted to the luxuriousness lifestyle of a big city, the Mother clearly advocates a more basic, ruralized setting reflective of native culture. The mother is clearly content with having simple necessities in her life, such as fresh tasting water, opposed to the more glamorous lifestyle Laetita that attracts her daughter. Laetita eventually moves to Salt Lake City and sends her family mail asking them to come visit her. An attempted trip to visit Laetita is thwarted by the mother’s inability to declare her official citizen at the border. â€Å"â€Å"Citizenship? † â€Å"â€Å"Blackfoot,† my mother repeated. â€Å"Canadian? † â€Å"Blackfoot. † It would have been easier if my mother had just said â€Å"Canadian† and been done with it, but I could see she wasn’t going to do that† (King, 357). The confrontation between the Mother and the border guards indicates a duality assiocated with the text’s title â€Å"Borders. † For King, there are two distinct interpretations of the meaning of border in the story. One is the obvious physical border separating the territory between Canada and the U. S. ; while the other is a metaphorical border indicating a difference between an individual’s citizenship and racial identity. The mother will not conform to identifying herself as Canadian or American, because she is content and proud of her ethnical identity as Blackfoot. The mother dismisses the concept of the physical border between the two countries. This is reflective in the opening lines of the story, where the narrator refers to the border between the U. S. and Canada to be nothing more than a â€Å"line† (King, 355). The mother feels no inclination to justify her ethnicity to the government. She is proud of her identity as a Blackfoot, and she feels as if she should be able to cross the imaginary border line as a Blackfoot, not as Canadian or American. The mother represents traditional native culture, and the loss of native identity in contemporary society. Contrastingly, her daughter Laetita is representative of a significant decline in native culture throughout North America. Laetita’s attitude towards her Blackfoot heritage changes dramatically throughout the text. Laetita is not content with her life on the reserve; she decides to make a change in her surroundings and crosses the border into America. â€Å"It was kind of exciting†¦listening to Laetita read all about how Salt Lake City was one of the best places in the entire world. â€Å"That Salt Lake place sounds too good to be true,† my mother told her. â€Å"It has everything. † â€Å"We got everything right here. † â€Å"It’s boring here†Ã¢â‚¬  (King, 358). The conflict in this passage between Laetita and her mother is indicative of the declining influence of native culture on younger generations. Laetita represents this decline, her pursuit of a new life in America shows her willingness to conform, something her mother intensely denies. The decline of native self-identity in the text is also evident in the last moments between Laetita and her mother, before Laetita leaves for Salt Lake City. â€Å"â€Å"You can still see the mountain from here,† my mother told Laetita in Blackfoot. â€Å"Lots of mountains in Salt Lake,† Laetita told her in English† (King, 356). Laetita speaks English while her mother speaks Blackfoot. This contrast accurately portrays the decline of native identity in the text. Laetita is leaving her ancestral home, and therefore discards her native dialect in favour of English, the only major language of the United States. The themes of King’s Borders provide insight to the declining status of native self-identity, as well as the submersion of native culture in contemporary society. It is critical to recognize King’s position as a Cherokee native in relation to the themes of his narrative. The significance of Borders resides in King’s political commentary on the way in which Native Americans are identified and treated in today’s society. â€Å"â€Å"I know,† said the woman, â€Å"and I’d be proud of being Blackfoot if I were Blackfoot. But you have to be American or Canadian†Ã¢â‚¬  (King, 359). The Canadian border guard is portrayed by King as being more friendly and compassionate then the American guards. She shows compassion towards the mother for her stubbornness, and also clearly respects the mother for her racial pride. This showcases the contrast in how Native Americans are viewed in Canada as opposed to America. In comparison, the American guards ignorantly addressed the situation, failing to recognize the Mother’s cultural integrity. The mother is incorrectly addressed as â€Å"Blackfeet† (357). This portrays the American image of â€Å"natives† to be negative. Instead of recognizing the Mother as a proud member of the Blackfoot community, the guard generalizes and pluralizes her identity. Government bureaucracy still reigns supreme, as the Canadian guard cannot let the mother pass the boarder without properly stating her citizenship. â€Å"You have to be American or Canadian. † The mother is finally granted passage to America as a Blackfoot, but only after much controversy and hardship. While her delay at the border was unnecessary, her strong claim to her native identity allows her to travel on her own terms as a proud Blackfoot native. King’s narrative is important to Canadian literature because it showcases the declining status of native identity in North America. Native culture is an integral part of Canadian history, and as a educated reader of this narrative, it is crucial to recognize the negative aspects of native treatment in contemporary society. Works Cited

Police Brutality in New York City misc essays

Police Brutality in New York City misc essays Civil rights advocates in the city note, however, that there has been a cost to the new strategy, revealed by steady citizen complaints against more aggressive NYPD officers during the past several years and continuing impunity for many officers who commit human rights violations despite the recent reorganization of both the civilian review board and the police department's internal affairs bureau. In August 1997, after the alleged torture of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima by police officers made national headlines and outraged city residents, the anti-crime record of the mayor and police department was tarnished. In uncharacteristic fashion, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir condemned the officers implicated in the incident as well as those who reportedly did nothing to stop it or report it. In the city's Civilian Complaint Review Board's (CCRB) semiannual report for the first half of 1997, African-Americans and Latinos filed 78 percent of complaints again st the police. The police force is 68 percent white. During the independent CCRB's first three-and-a-half years, only 1 percent of all cases disposed of led to the disciplining of a police officer, and out of 18,336 complaints, there have been just one dismissal of an officer stemming from a CCRB-substantiated case. If the studies by civil rights groups and the Mollen Commission are any indication, officers who commit abuses are not being dealt with adequately. In that incident, after protesters allegedly threw items at mounted police officers attempting to clear the park, police reacted by beating anyone nearby with their nightsticks, including uninvolved restaurant patrons and business owners. In the end, administrative charges were presented in seventeen cases, with officers disciplined in thirteen of them. Officers primarily from the 30th, 9th, 46th, 75th and 73rd precincts were caught selling drugs and beating suspects. Concluded Cawley, "They [re...

Residual Income as a measure of managerial performance. Include Essay

Residual Income as a measure of managerial performance. Include examples of usage today and advantages and disadvantages - Essay Example In business, residual income represents a specific financial amount derived from an equation which subtracts invested capital from total, pre-tax profitability (Accaglobal.com, 1999). Where the traditional return on investment (ROI) template, which calculates a percentage by dividing the average operating assets from net operating income, residual income is represented in actual dollars through its calculation. Professionals argue that residual income (RI) may not necessarily reflect the total performance of a managerial professional, hence there is the debate as to whether compensation directly linked to RI totals is a fair measure of reward for performance. This paper examines the contemporary usage of residual income as a performance measure. There are several viable calculations to determine residual income (RI), with the most common being operating income minus the required return on investment in dollars (Marshall, McManus & Viele, 2006). A second method is subtracting required income from actual income, representing a final financial (not percentage) total, indicating either a negative or positive residual income (Economist, 1996). For instance, if the actual income of the firm is $100,000 and required income (often calculated from ROI) is $50,000, the firm has experienced a residual income increase of $50,000, which may indicate that the company executive leadership has made positive strides in boosting profitability. When ROI is used in the equation to determine residual income, positive RI occurs when actual ROI is greater than the minimum required ROI. These calculations may sound very simplistic and relatively straightforward, however, calculating residual income is not always a fair measure of total executive performance, especially when a particular company has experienced years of negative residual income. For instance, assume that a firm maintained a negative residual income for

Pros and Cons of Situational Leadership Theory Essay

Pros and Cons of Situational Leadership Theory - Essay Example The strengths of situational leadership theory are its current use in many organizations, practicality, and prescriptive approach. Situational leadership theory is appealing to many leadership/management practitioners because it is seen as common sense for leaders to be flexible and adaptable to different situational variables, especially the conditions and characteristics of their subordinates and workplaces (Schedlitzki & Edwards, 2014, p.53). In addition, this theory is practical because it can be easily explained and understood, it is intuitive, and it can be applied across diverse settings (Northouse, 2013, p.105). Moreover, this theory is also prescriptive, where it is clear on what leaders and subordinates should do and should not do (Northouse, 2013, p.105). Its guidelines are valuable in guiding situational leadership. Besides strengths, situational leadership theory has its weaknesses, namely its over-simplified description of the relationship between leader behaviors and situational variables and lack of empirical research that can support assumptions and propositions. Scholars criticize the vagueness of the relationship between leader behaviors and situational variables, specifically the lack of explanation of variations for each leadership behavior category and how they can impact situational factors (Northouse, 2013, p.107; Schedlitzki & Edwards, 2014, p.54). Furthermore, this theory lacks empirical support for its assumptions and prescriptions. There is lack of empirical testing on the theoretical basis of the theory and how it can affect performance variables and outcomes (Northouse, 2013, p.107; Schedlitzki & Edwards, 2014, p.54). Situational leadership theory is a practical, simple, and prescriptive theory that appeals to practitioners and trainers alike. However, it lacks further explanation of the

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early Essay

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960 - Essay Example Britain’s share of world trade fell from 13.9% to 10.8% during this time. Taxation increased from 32% of GDP to 43% of GDP. Economic planning had failed and this failure precluded major social planning despite the fact that some social reforms such as the launch of comprehensive education, reorganization of public transport, development in health and local government. Abel-Smith and Townsend are credited with the "rediscovery of poverty" in the 1960’s: noticed that certain categories such as, families with children on low incomes and retired couples often lived in difficult circumstances. The definition of poverty adopted by Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend in their 1965 study, was the concept of â€Å"The Poor and the Poorest†. They concluded that "poverty was entirely a relative concept," and defined households to be in, or at the margins of, poverty if their income was less than "140 percent of the then current National Assistance scale plus rent". In 1960, 17.9% of households lived below this relative poverty standard. An unknown, but significantly smaller, share of the population had incomes below the "physical efficiency" or "human needs" poverty lines. (Ian Gazeley, Poverty in Britain 1900-1965) There was a strong case for saying that socially deprived families are frequently found in confined geographical areas identifiable by certain physical and social characteristics. Examples of these characteristics: geographical location, "twilight zones" near a city’s business area; areas populated by immigrants; overcrowded and poor amenities, Victorian housing stock; areas with a high percentage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers; higher than average proportions of families on State benefits; higher than normal percentage of large families; large number of fatherless families; areas with little play space and recreational facilities; areas with poorer health; high percentage of child deprivation and delinquency.

The Space Race and Apollo 11

The Space Race and Apollo 11 The Most Successful Space Mission of all Times Apollo 11 JAMES CHAN Introduction to the Cold War and Space Race Prior to the 1960s, there has always been a dream to travel to the outer space. Research has been done continuously around the world to investigate methods for space travel. At that time, there was a dramatic competition between countries and each nation wanted to demonstrate their superiority in technology and military power. After the World War II drew a conclusion in the mid-20th century, a conflict began between the Soviet Unions and United States known as the Cold War. The Cold War was a competition between the two rivalries and had been on-going for many years. The two nations extended military funding’s to compete against each other on military forces and technological competition which initiated the Space Race. The Space Race was a crucial arena for the competition between the two epic rivalries (Collins, 1999). Space Race happened between 1957 and 1975 where the two rivalries focused on attaining to be the first in space exploration. This supremacy was seen to be necessary in terms of national security and it was a symbolic of ideological superiority (Cram101 Textbook Reviews, 2013). The race involved efforts on launching satellites and human missions orbiting around the Earth, as well as unmanned probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars. Out of all the mankind achievements in the space race and 20th century, it was said that the Apollo 11 mission where humans finally escaped from the earth’s gravity and landed on the moon was the most groundbreaking and dominating milestone in the history of space travel (Brooks, et al., 2012). Timeline of the Space Race Figure 1: Timeline for Space Race The first race into space started in 1957 after the Soviet Union successfully launched the ‘Sputnik’ satellite. It was the first manmade object to leave the Earth (Bille Lishock, 2004). As a response, the US launched its first satellite, Explorer I, four months after the Russians which initiated the competition between the two nations. Momentarily the space race started to heat up and in 1959, the Soviet space program took the lead again with the launch of Luna 2, the first probe that reached the lunar surface (Kuhn, 2007). In 1961, the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1 successfully sent the first person into orbit around Earth and on the other side, the US managed to send its first mankind into space three weeks later with the Freedom 7 without achieving orbit (Schefter, 2000). It was nearly a year after, in 1962, the US was able to catch up with the Russians and send its first person to orbit around the Earth with the Friendship 7 spacecraft. At that time, the US President John F. Kennedy recognized the problem and suggested more work should be done for the US to reach a leadership position in this space race. Kennedy believes that the US could first achieve crewed lunar landing and soon started to fund NASA’s lunar landing program – Project Apollo (History.com, 2010). The ultimate goal of Project Apollo was to be the first country to safety send mankind on the moon and return them back to Earth by the end of 1960s (Brennan Vecchi, 2001). Project Apollo Shortly after Kennedy’s full support on the US lunar space programs, NASA has an increasing budget of 500% from 1961 to 1964 with 34,000 employees involved in the Apollo program (History.com, 2010). In conjunction with Project Apollo the US launched several programs such as the Gemini and Mercury program to develop the technology needed for the Apollo mission. From these programs, the Americans not only learnt how to change orbit of a spacecraft, but also performed the first rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft and accomplished the first spacewalk which are all necessity for the success of Project Apollo (Chaikin, 1999). After many years of flight testing and experiments conducted on the initial modules of the Apollo spacecraft, the launch of Apollo 8 in 1968 was the first manned space mission to orbit around the moon. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s Soyuz lunar landing mission proceeded alongside with Project Apollo to put the first man on the moon. The Soviet had planned for manned circumlunar flights around the moon in 1967 and manned lunar landings in 1968. However, the Soviet made four unsuccessful and one successful unmanned circumlunar mission between 1967 and 1970. In addition, four failed efforts to launch a lunar landing spacecraft between 1969 and 1972. The most significant setback was the launch pad explosion of the N-1 rocket on 3rd July, 1969 where the launch rocket hits the pad and destroyed the launching facility. Without the N-1 rocket, the Soviet was not able perform space launches anytime soon. In the same month, the US surpassed the Russians and won the race by landing on the moon with Apollo 11. Apollo 11 Mission In 16th July 1969, US astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins was set off on Apollo 11 for the first lunar landing attempt (Brennan Vecchi, 2001). The spacecraft consist of three parts namely Command Module, Service Module and Lunar Module. The Command Module is the cabin for the three astronauts, the Service Module supplies electricity, oxygen and water to the Command Module and the Lunar Module is used for lunar landing. The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was the fifth manned space mission of Project Apollo. Apart from sending astronauts to the moon and return them safety back to Earth, the secondarily objective of Apollo 11 was to perform human experiments on the lunar surface and return moon samples back to Earth. By studying the moon rocks and gathered data, it would greatly advance our scientific understanding of the moon’s history and what it consists of. (Moskowitz, 2009). Figure 2: Apollo 11 Components After launch, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit about 76 hours into the mission. On 20th July 1969, the Lunar Module started to descend after undocking with the Command Module. The US ended the space race on the same day by successfully landing the lunar module on the moon. It was the first manned lunar landing and first time mankind had experienced lunar gravity. After 6.5 hours after landing, Neil Armstrong was the first to step out of the spacecraft. He became the first human to set foot on the moon and his famously quote â€Å"Thats one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind† was symbolic (Brennan Vecchi, 2001). 500 million people gathered around television and countless audience listened via radios around the world to witness this historical moment. There were never so many people tuned in for a single event at the same time before. After a short period of time, President Richard Nixon connected with the astronauts via a telephone call from the White House. It w as the most historic telephone call and longest distance call ever. After two and a half hours of lunar surface exploration, the crew collected 21.5 kg of lunar materials and started its mission back to Earth. Eventually, the Apollo 11 mission landed in Pacific Ocean on July 24. Figure 3: Apollo 11 on the moon (Image by NASA) The US clearly won the space race by landing the first human on the moon and leapedto a commanding position in space competition. Subsequently, the Soviet decided to cancel their space program in 1970 after the successful moon landings by the US. Challenges Faced Although the Apollo 11 mission seems to be successfully, there were many challenges during the mission. After landing on the moon, the astronauts weren’t able to open the hatch due to unexpected low atmosphere pressure outside. They had trouble depressurizing the cabin and it took longer than expected to open the hatch (Wilford, 2010). The most risky and fatal challenge faced by the Apollo 11 spacecraft was for it to return to earth safety. While the astronauts were moving back to the cabin to prepare for its way back to Earth, Aldrin unintentionally broke the circuit breaker which was important to start up the engine (Jones, 1995). Fortunately, a felt-tip pen in the cabin fit into the slot and successfully activated the switch to fire the engine. In addition, the spacecraft was designed to be powered by a single engine for it to depart from the lunar surface. Based on previous testing’s performed in space, the engine has a high failure rate and it was a gamble for the engine to work actually as planned. If the engine did not work properly, it was impossible for the astronauts to return and there was no way to rescue them. Lessons learnt During the space race, both the US and the Soviet Unions were rushing to be the first to land on the moon. Both nations performed countless human experiments and activities which involves high investments and high risk (Harland, 2010). The fail attempts sacrificed lives and a high portion of the governments spending’s has gone to make these programs possible. During the 1960s, some Americans did not believe that the Apollo mission was worth its cost. People protest against the use of funding’s and many others quietly opposed the space missions (Madrigal, 2012). Despite Apollo 11 worked out the best, the Apollo team soon realized how lucky they were for the mission to succeed. As a result, lessons were learnt and the risk and flexibility of such missions should be taken into consideration for future space missions. Moreover, the space programs were conducted within individual countries during the space race. In the future, it is expected that international joint efforts between countries should be made for space explorations (Malik, 2008). Reason of Success The reason why the US can achieve such accomplishment in such short period of time is because of the government’s determination. The government sees the Apollo mission to be a long term strategic decision as it will benefit the US on both the administrative leadership and international politics standings. The US government has a clear goal and gives fully financial support to the NASA space programs. In addition, NASA works closely with industrial contractors and universities to make the program possible. Argument to be the Most Successful Space Mission The Apollo 11 success demonstrated both economic and technological superiority of the US over rival nations. Project Apollo was a triumph for NASA engineers to design, build and operate innovative spacecraft engineering systems in an environmental where humans wasn’t able to explore before. The integration and organization of the program demonstrated the superiority in engineering and technology of the US. The mission not only the first manned lunar landing, but is also a technological challenge and groundbreaking inventive in spacecraft engineering. The Apollo program achieved enormous achievements as well as leaving legacy for NASA and the spacecraft engineering industry. The mission will not be repeated and the findings of the mission will benefit the world of astronomy, science and engineering forever. It acts as an important milestone and motivation for future space exploration projects. No matter how many lunar landings will be performed in the future, it would never be comparable to the first step on the moon. It will always be remembered in the history of space exploration and thus I believe the Apollo 11 is the most successful space mission of all times. Conclusion During the years of space race, numerous space programs has been accomplished and the technology developed throughout the course of the space race has opened up new applications to space that would change the quality of life on Earth (Bille Lishock, 2004). Despite Apollo 11 being a success and was the first lunar landing on human’s history, lessons were learnt and sacrifices were made to achieve its goals. The Apollo 11 achievement was a great leap for mankind and I believe that Apollo 11 is the most successful space mission ever. Word Count: 1983 Bibliography Bille, M. Lishock, E., 2004. The First Space Race: Launching the Worlds First Satellites. Texas: AM University Press. Brennan, L. Vecchi, A., 2001. The Business of Space: The Next Frontier of International Competition. s.l.:Palgrave Macmillan. Brooks, C. G., Grimwood, J. M. Swenson, L. S., 2012. Chariots for Apollo: The NASA History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft to 1969. s.l.:Courier Dover Publications. Chaikin, A., 1999. Greatest Space Events of the 20th Century: The 60s. s.l.:s.n. Collins, M. J., 1999. Space Race: The U.S.-U.S.S.R. Competition to Reach the Moon. s.l.:Pomegranate. Cram101 Textbook Reviews, 2013. e-Study Guide for Give Me Liberty!: An American History, Vol. 2, textbook by Eric Foner: World history, United States. s.l.:Cram101 Textbook Reviews. Harland, D. M., 2010. NASAs Moon Program: Paving the Way for Apollo 11. s.l.:Springer. History.com, 2010. The Space Race. [Online] Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/space-race [Accessed 13 May 2014]. Jones, E. M., 1995. Trying to Rest. Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal. Kuhn, B., 2007. The Race for Space: The United States and the Soviet Union Compete for the New Frontier. s.l.:Twenty-First Century Books. Madrigal, A. C., 2012. Moondoggle: The Forgotten Opposition to the Apollo Program. [Online] Available at: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/09/moondoggle-the-forgotten-opposition-to-the-apollo-program/262254/ [Accessed 16 May 2014]. Malik, T., 2008. NASAs Most Memorable Missions. [Online] Available at: http://www.space.com/5853-nasa-memorable-missions.html [Accessed 2014 May 14]. Moskowitz, C., 2009. NASA’s 10 Greatest Science Missions. [Online] Available at: http://www.space.com/6378-nasas-10-greatest-science-missions.html [Accessed 2014 May 16]. Schefter, J., 2000. The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon. s.l.:Anchor. Wilford, J. N., 2010. Men Walk On Moon. [Online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0720.html [Accessed 2014 May 16]. 1 | Page

The Evils of Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay example -- Literary

The Evils of Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is inspired by the events that occurred during Harper Lee’s childhood. The setting in her novel is an allusion to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama around the time of the Scottsboro Boys Trials. In this novel, Lee illustrates the evils of racism to communicate the theme that everyone should be treated equally, not by the color of the person’s skin. In the case with Tom Robinson, Lee demonstrates â€Å"that southern justice for blacks was different from southern justice for whites† (May 4). Tom is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Throughout the trial, there is evidence to support Tom’s innocence, but because he is black, he is convicted anyway. This is a historical allusion to the trials that occurred in and around Scottsboro, Alabama, where nine black men were accused of raping two white women. Retrials occurred and, even with lack of proper evidence, all nine were convicted because of their skin color. Scout has to face â€Å"the realities of southern society within the same age span that Harper Lee faced Scottsboro† (May 4). Ama Lee, Harper Lee’s father, was a man of honor that was related to the famous soldier Robert E. Lee, and likely pushed the attitudes of family pride and the cruelty of southern prejudice on to Harper. Lee demonstrates the teachings that Atticus gave Scout and Jem as a reference to the teachings that Lee’s father told Harper as a child. As Lee was growing up, she learned of the trials that were occurring, and realized that it was unfair that the black men were convicted of a crime that had little, if any, evidence. To a child, a mother or father is ‘all-knowing’ and therefore ask their parent(s) about anything that they do no... ...February 2012 Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print. May, Jill. "In Defense of To Kill a Mockingbird."EXPLORING Novels. Detroit: Gale Power Search. Web. 14 February 2012 Smykowski, Adam. â€Å"Symbolism and Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird.† Readings on To Kill a Mockingbird. Ed.Terry O’Neill. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press, 2000. 52-56. Literature Resource Center. Web. 8 February 2012 Tavernier-Courbin, Jacquelin. â€Å"Humor and Humanity in To Kill a Mockingbird.† On Harper Lee: Essays and Reflections. Ed.Alice Hall Petry. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee. Literature Research Center. Web.10 February 2012 Zaidman, Laura M. "Harper Lee: Overview." Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers. Ed. Laura Standley Berger. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Twentieth-Century Writers Series. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 February 2012