Racial Hatred and Discrimination

Adolf HitlerDuring the time Scout and Jem were growing up in Maycomb, a terrible new day was dawning across the Atlantic Ocean in Germany. Adolf Hitler, furious that Germany had lost World War I and resentful of the extreme punishments which had been directed against Germany for having begun the war, decided he wanted to be a political leader who would lead Germany to a great new future.

Racial HatredHitler based his ideas about this wonderful new world on racial hatred, especially his hatred of Jews. Germany was in a Great Depression even worse than the one in the United States, and many people were starving. The reparations the other countries of Europe had demanded of Germany left many Germans very angry, and in their desperation, they followed Hilter’s lead. Before he was finished, millions of innocent people had been killed, and much of Europe was destroyed.

Reconstruction EraAfter the South was defeated in the American Civil War, many people were uprooted from their homes and many were killed. The so-called Reconstruction Period following the war made things even worse. Only the wealthy could afford education, and just as in Germany, masses of people were angry and desperate. Not all Southerners hated the former slaves, but many blamed them for their troubles.

Ku Klux KlanWhen people are desperate, they often look for someone to blame for their misfortunes. In Germany, they blamed the Jews. In the United States, the blacks were blamed. People thought that if it had not been for them, there would have been no war. If a person wants to look down on someone, that person will usually find someone worse off than him or herself. It helps if that person is someone who cannot fight back. Many groups arose to make sure blacks “stayed in their place,” including the Ku Klux Klan, a group of hate-filled men who made it their purpose not to allow black people to get jobs or have the same rights they claimed for themselves.

Assignment

Citations

Robbins, Mari Lu. "Racial Hatred and Discrimination." A Guide for Using To Kill a Mockingbird in the Classroom, Based on the Novel Written by Harper Lee. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, 1999. 35. Print.