To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee
This is such a well-known story, told from an 8-year-old child's perspective, of prejudice, racism, and small town politics and bigotry. Eight-year-old Scout is the daughter of Atticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in 1930's Maycomb, Alabama. A white woman accuses a black man of raping her, and Atticus is appointed to defend him. It's not easy doing what's right in a small town where everyone knows everyone else, and segregation and prejudice are the order of the day. While the church ladies collect funds to help the poor people in Africa, they don't want to socialize with the African-American next door, and the Finch family are appropriately ostracized for Atticus's defense of Tom Robinson.
This evening, I heard a talk by Dominique Gilliard, whose book, Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores, will officially be published by InterVarsity Press on March 2nd (look for a review in the future). Gilliard brings to light historical problems following emancipation that led to mass incarceration, particularly of African Americans who, recently freed, lacked the skills and education to find employment. I couldn't help but think of To Kill a Mockingbird, and how prejudice and injustice set the stage for Tom Robinson's accusation and trial. Gilliard went on to discuss the church's role in perpetuating this trend, and cited many ways the church can help to reverse the trend. (More details coming)
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