Unpopular Opinion: Atticus Finch Was a Racist

 Debbie Brockmeyer

Dr. Harris

African American Lit 1- 16114

December 7, 2025

Unpopular Opinion: Atticus Finch Was a Racist

     In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a white lawyer appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who accused of raping a white woman in the 1930’s Jim Crow Era south. Atticus was appointed by JudgeTylor to defend Tom because of his reputation of believing that everyone deserves a fair trial. They (the racist towkfolk) also wanted to prevent the NAACP from coming to town to defend Tom. Although not happy with the appointment, Atticus feels that he must also set an example for his children, Scout and Jeb, though there is a lot of backlash and threats by the townspeople. 

     There are two types of racist people in this world. The first kind is very vocal about their racism. There will be no doubt who they are and how they feel. The second type is much more dangerous, as they appear to not be prejudice, while really having closet racist feelings and dealings. An example of this would be a white person who appears to not be racist but will cross the street to avoid walking near a black person. When I read To Kill a Mockingbird the first time, I questioned some things that stood out to me. When defending Tom, Atticus never humanized Tom. He did not paint Tom as a caring person, a family person, a friend, or a good worker. He only described Tom as being from a clean-living family. He only used Tom’s disability with his left arm as the defense. Atticus’s answer to Scout about using the N-word also stood out to me. He told her that it was a “common” word used by trashy people. He did not explain the harmfulness or degradation of the word. These examples, and others in the book, show how people ensconced in white privileged culture use black crimes, in this case Tom’s life and death, and make it about themselves. In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch says “Every lawyer gets a least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess.” What is not clear when he says this is how it affects him personally. Is he upset about the hopelessness of defending black people in this racist own or is it that he must hide his own feelings to appear morally superior to everyone else while he deeply feels that it is not worth his time to defend a black man? Atticus and the town just move on after Tom was found guilty, imprisoned and later killed during an escape attempt. The police do nothing to investigate the murder of Tom. 

     Atticus was passively complicit in the injustice that Tom Robinson received. Atticus was the son of slave owners. Granted they did not keep a lot of slaves, nor did they beat or starve their slaves, but Atticus’s family did not have an issue with slavery overall. This is further proof of underlying racism. Atticus also encouraged Scout and Jeb to be sympathetic to certain townspeople who were outwardly racist, downplaying their atrocities. He drew the line when a lynch mob came to hang Tom. I feel he only stopped them because if he had allowed that, it would have destroyed his carefully constructed morally superior persona.

     For my major project, I chose to do visual art. I made a digital painting that shows Tom Robinson, bent over as if in despair, while a large gavel held by a white hand, is getting ready to hit him. Off to the side is Atticus Finch, with his head held in shame. Atticus’s eyes are covered by Lady Justice’s blindfold and in his hand is the scale of justice. The scale of justice is tilted to indicate the injustice to Tom Robinson. The background of the picture is a giant Mockingbird. The mockingbird stands for Tom’s innocence. One of the books famous quotes is that it is a “sin To Kill a Mockingbird.” The binary opposition in this story is not as obvious as some cases. Due to my feeling of Atticus being a closet racist, this would be the evil vs. good binary opposition. The story tried to paint the opposition as being the town against Atticus and Tom, but I feel Tom did not stand a chance with a closet racist representing him.