The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, in 1935--a deeply racist time and place.
The question is, could something like this happen today? Why or why not?
Monday, March 26, 2012
Could it happen today?
The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, in 1935--a deeply racist time and place.
The question is, could something like this happen today? Why or why not?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Cole A.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that something like this could happen today. People aren't as racist today as they were back then and with so little evidence, there's no way someone like Tom could be convicted.
Most likely, this type of situation wouldn't happen in the present. Laws have been made to make white and black people equally in the court system. If this kind of trail were to happen and with no possible evidence, then the case would have to go into further examination. If no person was found guilty then no one could be convicted of the felony. There would need to be more evidence for a verdict to be reached in the case. Times have changed for the better, to make everyone equal in todays society.
ReplyDelete-Chris C. P.2
Freesia Ferrantino
ReplyDeleteI personally think that this could happen today, although it would not be common. People are much more aware of racism, and I think that if you were racist in a court of law, people would call you out and call you racist, and generally ruin your reputation, if you had one. In the south, like in Alabama, racism might still be prominent, I don't really know. But I do know that in New York, the odds of this happening are pretty slim, and then there would be repercussions to the racist actions.
Liam Huysman
ReplyDeleteSomething like the verdict in the Tom Robinson case would never happen in today’s world. All defendants are innocent until proven guilty, and there was no evidence of Tom raping Mayella. Also, everyone is equal under the law in today’s legal system. Even though this was an idea back in the 1930s, it wasn’t true. The jury said Tom was guilty due to the fact that he was black. Today, Tom would get a fair trial and a fair decision.
Nothing like what happened in Maycomb could happen here, today, at least not to the extent that it happened then and there. One of the primary reasons being that the jury is a mix of black and white people; even if there was some racism against either group, there would be fairly equal representation. Also, of course, there are laws and social rules that make every person equal in every sense. There are no more separate but equal rules, no more social code that black people are in any way of a different status that white people. If there is such a lack of evidence like in Tom Robinson's case, a man could never be accused no matter his skin color. In fact, if it did, there might even be charges brought against the people who convict him for racism! No, nothing like what happened could happen here, today.
ReplyDelete-Laura Halsey
I believe that there is still some racism towards black people today but not like this. In this case all the evidence to prove Tom's innocents was there but the jury only changed their minds when he said he felt sorry for her. A black man doesn't feel sorry for a white woman. Today there would be a little bit of racism but they are only stereotyping. If all the evidence was there they would be not guilty even if it was a black man. The only thing is they might think he did something at first because he is black but if the evidence says differently they will go with the evidence.
ReplyDeleteBy: Connor Bing
Because we are in a different time and place then what takes place in the book, I do not believe something like this could happen today. I think most people's values, morals, and judgements have changed over the years. While there are definitely people out there who still think like the jury in the novel, I think the court system would see to it that there are no biases or prejudices within a jury. As I said above, I think most people today understand that "all men are created equal" and would try a black man in the same way they would a white man. As Atticus said in the book, the courtroom is the only place where everyone should be and is completely equal. So overall, I do not believe this could happen today, given the major changes in society over the last seventy plus years.
ReplyDeleteJoey M.
Period 2
People aren't this racist today i think people have realized that you cant just blame people for things that you dont know they did just because of there skin color. And now there is a lot more witnesses and people defending people today
ReplyDeleteToday, something like this could happen, but the odds are very slight and it could depend on where the location is. Some people are still racist in today's society, so they could easily believe that in the case of a crime it could or would be the black person being held responsible for the crime. If a white persons' evidence does complete lack evidence then it would be they who are considered guilty under the court system. However, it is pretty unlikely because we do live in a country where everyone is supposed to be "equal", but then again not everyone believes or follows this; although it does contribute to everyones' rights.
ReplyDeleteDaniela C.
I really think maybe some place down south were there a-little more racist but around were we live I really don't think it could. I don't think it could happen in our country because now they are really stressing the right that everyone is created equal
ReplyDeleteI think something like this could happen today, and it already has. I think this because some people believe that most black people are 'up to no good'. But it also couldn't happen today because the justice and legal system in society today is stronger with evidence of what would've happened. Also, segregation was still going on during the time period in the book, so white people would usually win the argument.
ReplyDeleteCollette Delisle Period 2
I dont think that anything like this is possible in the present day. In court all people are treated equal. The one who will win in court will be the person wit the most evidence and who is the most convincing. It will not be up to the fact of the matter if your white or if your black. It is also against the law to be racist or discriminate against blacks.
ReplyDeletePeter Marotta p.9
I believe that something like this could not still happen today. In the book, all of the evidence shows that Mayella is lying and Tom is obviously telling the truth. There is no way that someone could lose a case just because of the color of his skin today. Also, when choosing a jury today, people of any race are allowed to be part of it and you are asked whether you are racist if the person on trial is a different race. People today may still lean towards the side of there own race, but still the evidence is what the jury must look at. Today, the color of your skin doesn't decide if you are guilty or not in a court case.
ReplyDeleteHaley P. Period 2
I think that something like this could still happen today because some people still think prejudice thoughts against other people. Even though some of the jury might not be racist, there could still be a possibility that the defendant could still go to jail. Even with no evidence, the case could go on for months while the defendant is held in jail for a crime that he/ she did not commit. If the defendant is innocent but convicted guilty, there would be people who believe his story. Even today, there are prejudice thoughts about people and cultures. Even though some people want to admit that all of the prejudice thoughts toward people went away years ago, that is sadly not the case. There will always be prejudice thoughts and nobody will be able to change that.
ReplyDeletePeriod 2 Emily Meyer
Our system of law has evolved that people are treated equally. So if Tom was convicted in this Era, with the same lack of evidence then Tom would not be found guilty.
ReplyDeleteAndy L.
No I don't think something can happen like that in this country today. The ways things are now is that everyone has a lawyer, and everything is based on the evidence you have. In this country you always have a fair trial. Also, in that trial their is a jury who has to base their determination of guilty or not guilty on the evidence on hand; NOT their personal opinion. Also, there is a lot less racism today so; I don't think a something like this could happen to day.
ReplyDeleteCassandra Loben, Peirod 3
Yes i Believe it could happen in some areas of the country, there are still some very racist people in the world, the odds of it actually happening though are slim to nothing but down stop there are still some men and women who believe that black men should not be equal to white men. i think this wouldn't be surprising if i found out someone did something like this...
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Bruzga
I dont think that this could happen today because, there was a total lack of evidence, and there was no way that Tom could do it because he only has one arm. Today there are still people that are racist, but the court today is much better then what it was, so Tom would be not guilty if this was today.
ReplyDelete- Kate Wagner
I think that there is a possibility it could happen, depending on the judge and the jury. If they judge and jury is very racist, and don't like african americans than yes this could happen. But with all the evidence provided that Tom wasn't guilty, I would find it very hard to say he was guilty, as specially when there is no more segregation around.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that something like this case would happen anywhere in the United States because everything with our court system is based on evidence, not on your race. Also, everybody is to be treated equally. In some other places in the world, I do think something like this could happen because other places are still extremely prejudice and unfair.
ReplyDelete-Brianna Moore
To be honest, I think that something like this happening is still possible, though highly unlikely. I think our court system has become even more fair since the time and place of "To Kill a Mockingbird", so there would have to be specific, verifiable evidence on the guilty party. I think in a place such as New York, this type of situation is really unheard of. The color of your skin cannot have an effect on your conviction.
ReplyDelete- Gemma Caglioti
Period 3
No, i dont believe anything like this could ever happen again in this day and age. First i think that one of the reasons this could never happen again is because our president is black. Another reason is that that kind of racism has been gone a long time ago white people are no better than black people.- sam terry
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is still possible today, but not likely to occur. Tom Robinson was found guilty due more to the fact that he was black. There are people who are racist towards blacks, and other minorities and it does happen. Today most of the people in the U.S. are non-racists and are accepting to other races. There have been occasions recorded when a person has accused another of committing a crime due to their races, its disappointing but true, and it does happen.
ReplyDelete-Roger Llivisaca
I think it is possible to happen if the judge and the jury are racist. If they are racist then with all the evidence they could still say he was guilty. But if we have the right judge, who doesn't care about skin color, then No this would not happen today. There was so much evidence shown that Tom was NOT guilty, there should have never been a question of if he raped Mayella. Today, I don't think this would happen.
ReplyDeleteKatie Vanderslice, Period 3
Henry S
ReplyDeleteThis kind of malevolent racism would not occur in our time due to the fact that we live in a completely different time period and area of the country where we are in a non-racist environment.peoples ideas and morals have been greatly altered over the time difference which is over 70 years.the 1930's are very different from the 2000's we live in now. There are a few exceptions to the general consensus of a perfect non-racist environment. there will always be ignorant people who won't just change their minds. I think even the 1980's we would not see this kind of injustice because of the civil rights movement which so greatly altered the landscape of society. Toda we live in a community where blacks, whites, asians, hispanics etc. coul live peacefully in a mostly racist free environment. So this injustice that was Tom Robinson's case would not happen if it were to occur in this time and place.
Yes, I think something like this could happen today because some areas of the state still have some racist people who tend to not like blacks or other nationalities. Many people still try to accuse blacks for a crime they didn't do or have any part in it. There are many people who still think blacks are not equal to white men or women and should be treated poorly. Even though segregation is over others have their opinions about blacks. Some like them and some don't. If one person strongly hates blacks, im sure that they would try and find evidence to prove them guilty in court just like in the book TKM.
ReplyDeleteJackie Pendleton
Period 3
I think that it is unlikely that something like what happened in TKM would still happen today. Although racism is still around, it isn't as widespread, and I don't think that people would change the verdict on a capital crime. It definitely couldn't happen out here. However, in some parts of the country, racism is alive and well. I don't think that this could happen today, but it could be possible.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Ridgway
No i don't think that it could happen today because everyone is treated equally in the court system. Now the jury bases their decisions on the evidence and the facts that they hear and not opinions. They try to make sure that everyone has a fair trial and some trials can go on for days because they haven't decided. Tom probably wouldn't have been guilty today.
ReplyDeleteShannon F.
I believe that there is much less of a chance of this happening in our world today, but anything is possible. In our courts today, if a case like this were to come about, the jury would be asked if they were racist to either blacks or whites. If any man in the jury is racist, he would be asked to leave. This way the decision made is based on true facts and evidence rather then personal preference of races. Also, more laws have been developed over the last 70 years. These laws include that a man is a free man unless proven guilty with evidence. In Tom Robinson's case, there was no evidence; therefore, in today's world, that case would have never even made it to court. No evidence means that a big fat lie could have been made up, which is exactly what Mr. Ewell did. However, there are still racist people out in the world, people that aren't empathetic to those that are different then them. With people like this, the world will never be 100% fair, and there is always the chance that a man will be proven guilty when in reality he is as non-guilty as a dove.
ReplyDeleteSarah Culver
Period 3
In today's system of conviction when it comes to criminals no I do not believe that a jury or judge would decide a case based on race as many who are chosen in such cases are made sure to have no racial biases. It was much different than it had been during the era of civil rights movement and pre world war II and have confidence that many of the racial barriers that had existed have been torn down. However no matter the time I do believe that there is still a bias made by all human beings. Everything we know is based off of how we perceive the world personally and as a race based on past experiences and what we can see in front of us and I believe that everyone has a bias in one way or another based on their personal history and how they themselves view the world, wether it be based on gender, age, family history all those things people will perceive differently and thus have different opinions on such topics. It is truly impossible to get a completely un-biased crowd or jury because of the fact that we all perceive things differently from one another and even without our knowing will judge based on what we believed based on our perceptions of the world, however at least we have torn down the the racial walls separating us and in my opinion are taking steps forward with this.
ReplyDelete-Spencer Jenulis
I think it is very possible for something like this could happen today. Even though it would be uncommon in a town like ours, racial prejudices still exist all over the world, especially in a place like the South. Even though we have the laws that everyone is treated fairly and equally, it really isn't true for most places. Even though our legal system is very advanced, nothing can screw it up better than a racially prejudiced jury, just like in Tom Robinson's case.
ReplyDeleteConnor Federico, Period 3
Something like that could not happen today i think because we are based more on the evidence which in this case was little to none that could determine if Tom did the crime and we are not based on what color skin people have anymore. I think it would be a very rare case if this happened in are today world.
ReplyDelete- Joey Hernandez
I think thinks much like the persecution of Tom Robinson are liable to occur today, in th harsher places of the world. Some occurances of Racial problems like this have happened every now and then. Simple regular corrupted court cases happened more often than simply court cases swayed by racism.
ReplyDeleteThings like this though, could happen because there are still (and unfortunately, it's likely that there always will be) people who share racist beliefs, and some may even be driven to harshly persecute others for this reason. It would be rather unsurprising that this happens, considering many have shared these exact views for a very long time. Although, it happens a lot less these days (luckily) so I can see how some would be a bit surprised when it DOES occur.
-Lucas M
I don't think something like this could happen today since there is not as much racism today as there was back then. Today everybody gets treated equally and not blamed just because he of a different race.
ReplyDelete-Jamie Psaras
There is no way this could happen in this time period. There was little to no evidence against Tom Robinson. Mayella said her dad was tolerable when he wasn't drinking, and she was hit on the left side of her face; Tom can not move his left arm while her dad is a lefty. The only way that Tom lost the trial is because of the time period he is in. Tom helped Mayella many other times to make kindling, moving stuff, etc, every time he came there she would give him a nickel. He went to help her one day and he told her she didn't have to give him a nickel cause he felt sorry for her. So he went to move something off of a shelf and she attacked him and he was able to get away. But what it all came down to was a white mans word over a black man's.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Roese
This really couldn't happen today with all the media and social media that we have today, something like this would cause a crazy amount of trouble with everything in the government and the government wouldn't want to deal with it at all. It could really lead to more and more crimes, and more trouble.
ReplyDelete- Aidan Bean
Jhony A.
ReplyDeleteI don't think something like this can happen again. Despite the evidence, the Maycomb community said that he was guilty, because of racism. Today if this happened again they wouldn't be guilty, especially if there was enough evidence to support. Today in a court everyone is treated equally.
I think that this sort of thing would never happen today. There was no evidence against Tom and it was obvious to everyone that he was telling the truth but in Maycomb they were racist. The law system today is not racist so he would have not be convicted.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Quezada.
I don't think that this trial could really take place in our society. I think this because we are not as racist as this time when this trial took place. We treat all people in trial equal. Also, they would not testify a man or rape without evidence that an actual rape would take place. This is why I don't think something like this would actually happen.
ReplyDelete-Lizzie Goldfarb
Katie Vish
ReplyDeleteTom's case, in todays world, would be given fairly. Everybody is equal in todays court, meaning race shouldn't get in the way of making the big decision. Honestly, there was no proof of rape, so this case wouldn't even come to trial in todays world. A lot has changed.
I don't think that a case like that would happen today. It is a lot different now than it was back then. People aren't as racial as they were, and we have more fair laws now. If that would happen today, the judge would probably be arrested or have consequences because it is not fair to treat people unequally, especially in a court. If the case took place today, Tom Robinson probably would have won. He had a lot of good evidence, it was obvious that he was telling the truth, and there was no evidence against him, so there is no reason why he wouldn't win today.
ReplyDelete-Meghan Renna
I don't think that this could happen now because there isn't as much racism as there used to be and you need actual physical evidence to testify for something like this. You can't win a case like this by just saying, oh he hit me and choked me, when there's no proof to show that he did. Rodman Finnegan Per6
ReplyDeleteI believe something like this can occur in our society today because although we say the jurys and people convicting others are based on facts and evidence that has been brought to their attention sometimes that is a false statement. People still make biased opinions to this day and while some may see a person completely innocent or guilty because of a crime others may come to the opposite conclusion because what they see about the person, maybe they see a different colored skin or they see or hear something not liked in their beliefs. There are still places in this world that we may not know about that still holds things against people because of something that may have had in the past.
ReplyDelete*~Tyisha Mitchell~*
I think that it's highly unlikely for this to happen today. The lawyers are better and there are many protective laws to keep things fair. Also, the questions would be much more specific and strict so that all information leads to one story that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAlison Cappabianca
Aurora MacDonald:
ReplyDeleteTom Robinson's trial was very inappropriate because he was guilty with only witnesses as proof. Now a day that is illegal and would not be tolerated. You cannot just try and arrest someone and make them go to jail with your word... you need to have proof. Now a day that trial would have been terminated immediately because of an insufficient amount of evidence.
That couldn't happen now a days because frist they didn't really know if he (tom) did it or not and 2nd there is no racists people in the court houses know so just because they are black white yellow purple doesn't mean they must have done it.
ReplyDelete-Veronica Robinson
I do not think this could happen today because our legal system has really advanced since then. There would need to be way more than "he said" "she said" to convict him, let alone give him the chair. Scout is only 8 years old at the time and knows who is telling the truth and who is not, so the jury should be able too, but since they are so racist they don't seem to care enough. Also, the fact that Mayella would have to have been beaten by someone left-handed should have closed the case. Tom Robinson had no way of doing that with his damaged, unusable arm. Her father Bob could have though, because he is left-handed.
ReplyDelete~Kelly Mead
I don't think something like this case could happen today. I think that because they would need more evidence than they had. Today they would be able to figure out whether the girl had been raped or not. Also, the people in the court aren't as racist as they used to be back then. The only reason that Tom Robinson was guilty was because he was black and that wouldn't work today.
ReplyDelete- Michael P
I believe that it could still happen knowing the power of one person, Such as a judge when in court, but I feel that even though someone may try to use race to make someone lose a court case, I also feel like other people would realize what is going on and stop it. So, it could happen but the chances are that someone would pick up on whats going on.Robert L.
ReplyDeleteI feel that in this case and in todays society that it would most likely not happen. Depending on the location, it may happen because there are still many racist areas and would let the whites win even if the blacks have all the evidence to be innocent. But in general areas, Tom Robinson would not be guilty. Today, all races are aloud to tell their side of the story and their color of their skin would not matter and much as it did back then. The supporting evidence is what the jury looks for in the case and that is what Tom had.
ReplyDelete-Emi
No it wouldn't happen because no one can be convicted without evidence today. And there was no evidence in the trial when Tom got convicted so he was only convicted because they where being racist.
ReplyDelete- K Dog ( a.k.a. Kevin C
I don't think that this could happen today. i think this because of the lack of evidence. They would have close the case without a doubt. There is nothing that would even come close to the proof on why he "could" have done this. Also the public would believe that Mr. Ewell is just being racist not that he is trying to make a case.
ReplyDelete~Morgan Ford
Something like this could happen today, but it doesn't mean that it should happen. Nowadays, there are still people that are racists and they would still go against a black man no matter what proof there is to protect them. Today, though, it is extremely unlikely that anything like what happened to Tom Robinson could happen today, primarily because of the much smaller amount of racists in this world today.
ReplyDelete-John Tocco
Frank L.
ReplyDeleteSomething like this could never happen in todays day and age. In our country things are no longer segregated, people of all races are judges, police officers and most importantly any US citizen can be called for jury duty regardless of race. Race is no longer a factor within our government and judicial system. This trial is said to of taken place during a very racist time and that was the reason for his conviction, his race. We no longer live in a country of racism and condescending attitudes in government. Other people may still hold onto those old ideas but they would be woven out before a trial of this kind started. I believe that some people may still think we are a country of racists and the government is unjust and unfair, but those statements are just false. If you took the time to look into out judicial system you would see that many of our jurors are of a race other than white, making race no longer a factor in court.