The Impact of Racism

As you are finishing up your reading, you might be thinking about characters, events, historical references and the theme of courage. There are so many connections you've made between your current reading and Mockingbird, historical events, political figures, and so forth. It's sad to think that this time period wasn't so long ago. I can't help but wonder where are we now in terms of the impact of racism in our culture. A site we'll visit and discuss is called Face to Face and is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This raises questions about discrimination in more recent history and current day.

In browsing some of the information out there on related reading, I found a very interesting link to the Emmett Till case. Did you know that although the killers admitted what they'd done, they went unpunished? Their confession was published in Look magazine, and it appears in this site. Read over the trial summary, and you will see that it is surprisingly like Tom Robinson's. It only took the jury 67 minutes, though, to come back with a "not guilty" verdict. The two killers just laughed and lit up cigars after their acquittal.

Tomorrow your vocabulary is due. A very good suggestion appeared in the third block blog (I think Blue Jay's) to look in the related readings at the back of the books for vocabulary if you are having trouble finding them in Jane Pittman. Thanks.

You'll have a chance to write about your books tomorrow, so be sure to bring them. It will be a celebration of what you know!