Interface between disability and racism in Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird

Abstract

This research explores the interface between race and disability in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, emphasizing how societal attitudes intertwine these constructs to marginalize individuals. The novel portrays a racial hierarchy in which black individuals like Tom Robinson are figuratively disabled by systemic racism. Tom faced both physical and racial problems in his life. He faced the physical disability despite his injured left arm; societal biases strip him off agency and autonomy. His attempts to resolve the challenges in his life through legal avenues reveal the structural obstacles faced by African Americans in a prejudiced society. Tom Robinson faces physical injury is overshadowed by the societal prejudice that labels him incapable and untrustworthy solely based on his skin color. The legal system's failure to protect Tom illustrates how racial discrimination creates figurative disabilities by denying individuals the rights and protections afforded to others. Boo Radley, another key figure in the novel, highlights how perceived disability and societal exclusion intersect. However, he, as a white man, he is offered a legal protection. Deriving insights about disability from Lennard Davis' theory and about the nexus between racism and power from Colette Guillaumin and George M. Fredrickson, this study establishes how prejudice whether rooted in race,disability or both serve to ostracize and marginalize individuals. Meanwhile, the study also points out the ways both disabled characters, Robinson and Boo, are treated differently along the line of race and thereby they face diametrically opposite consequences. Keywords: interface, disability, race, racism, prejudice