Sergio SanchezEnglish 10Ms. TranMay 14, 2014Don't be told how to live your life, choose and defend your freedomAs an African American in the 1930s, your degree of freedom was determined by which half you lived in - the North or the South. During this period, there was a lot of racism, segregation and prejudice. However, racism was on a whole different level in the South than in the North of the United States. In the North, people of color had rights like free speech, but in the South, they had none. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, did a wonderful job of vividly describing how black people lived in the South, especially in the state of Mississippi in Maycomb County. In Maycomb's society, white people hated black people. For many people, racism has radically changed their lives. The grass really was greener on the other side for people of color – the North. For Calpurnia, Tom Robinson and Mr. Dolphus Raymond, racism has significantly affected their lifestyle. People of color lived with other people of color and white people lived with other white people. The Finch family was an exception. It was a white house with a rare feature, their housekeeper is black. This was rare because in that society, white people did not interact with black people. Calpurnia, the housekeeper, is described as acting as a mother to Mr. Finch's children, Jem and Scout. She teaches them right and wrong and even takes them to church. Calpurnia is not like the rest of the colored people, she knows how to read and write correctly. However, this causes her to live a double life when she is around other black people, because then black people will think that Calpurnia likes white people better than her own race. From middle of paper......go against your own people and live with people of color. Although racism is no longer as violent and unjust as it was in the 1930s, it still exists today. In To Kill A Mockingbird, black people were treated poorly compared to everyone else. Whether you are Calpurnia, Tom Robinson or Mr. Raymond, you have had to face painful racism and adapt your lifestyle to it. They were forced to live a life they wouldn't have to live if people agreed to treat each other as equals. Black people did not have freedom in the South like they had in the North. Today, everyone is treated equally, or at least supposed to be, because people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for their beliefs. The people of Maycomb did not have to live this way if only they would defend each other. One voice makes a difference, but many voices make a difference. Racism is something we need to change.