The Culture of Oppression: What is True Courage?

As we read through the court scene and hear (read) the verdict, I am reminded of similar events in history. It's sad to think that this really wasn't that long ago (1931) that the Scottsboro Boys found themselves fighting for their lives - and freedom- in a similar historical case in Alabama.

As you are finishing up your reading, you might also be thinking about characters, events, historical references and the theme of courage. There are so many connections you can make between Mockingbird and historical events, political figures, and so forth. 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.

We'll be visiting a few websites today in class. A high school student like you started a campaign to end modern day slavery. Maybe you've heard of it. It's called Loose Change to Loosen the Chains. His campaign has raised thousands of dollars which go to the International Justice Mission, an organization which attempts to advocate for the oppressed. Maybe you've also seen a movie called Amazing Grace, which illustrates the history behind the slave trade. We'll visit that along with these many other sites today. I hope you will find time to blog about it!

Tomorrow you'll be bringing in your drafts of your process writing paper. I'll be anxious to read them!

Happy reading, writing, and blogging!