Yesterday on the schoolyard that mean Cecil Jacobs broadcasted that "Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers"and that his folks said "your daddy was a disgrace an that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank". I was so angry, I immediately denied it and "I wanted to beat the face off of him". I rushed home to ask my father Atticus. My father in his wise and thoughtful manner simply stated, "of course I do". Which led me to wondering my next question, "if you shouldn't be defendin him then why are you doin it"? Atticus explained to me, that it was a matter of doing the right thing, even though it may not be the most popular thing, especially among their friends. Although he may be criticized for defending Tom Robinson, morally, he had to do it, in order to maintain his integrity and hold his head high within his family and community. I felt confused, yet oddly proud of my knowledgeable and nurturing father. I decided right then, I didn't want to let Atticus down, by allowing Cecil Jacobs to goat me into a physical altercation on the schoolyard. I'm going to completely ignore Cecil Jacobs because my father is a good man and I believe what he says, is the honest truth. Besides, I want to be "noble" too. It makes me ponder, why my father, defending a clean-living negro man, has everyone up in arms, when thats his job. And, if the "white folk" already know that he's not going to win, then why do they care so much and want to be so unfair.
Cecil Jacobs openly confronting me on the schoolyard, regarding my father defending a black man, named Tom Robinson, reveals that segregation is alive and thriving. The belief that a "white lawyer" should not defend a "black man" simply, because the colour of his skin, defines his guilt, is outrageous, yet the norm among the prim and proper southern world of Maycomb. The sincere belief, that "negros" are less human and therefore should not have equal rights, was born and bread in the south, by white forefathers and allows school segregation to flourish. As long as the "white folk" continue to have all the power and control segregation will exist. A shift in the pendulum, such as Atticus Finch defending a black man, serves to threaten the longevity of segregation. 


-Scout