While reading Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, I asked myself, “What are some unintended ways that children are exposed to racism?” I had asked this question because Scout, at an early age, has experienced hate due to her father advocating for a black man in court.

While parents seek out to teach their children to not be racist towards others, their actions may speak otherwise. In a book by Amanda Lewis and John Diamond, it is revealed that “although white parents often say they want diversity in their children’s lives, their actions demonstrate their desire to protect practices of segregation within diverse schools that offer advantages to their kids” (Hagerman 6). Instead of trying to improve the education of everyone at their school, they inadvertently express racial animosity by hoarding extra learning opportunities for their kids. Other ways that parents might implicitly express racism is through the conversations held at the dinner table, who they befriend, and how they react to racist comments made by their peers. All of these actions can affect how a child treats others of a different race. Likewise, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus models how to not hate others for the color of their skin by never using slang terms, advocating for Mr. Robinson, and treating all black people with respect.

Another huge factor in how children learn about racism is the environment in which they grow up. The author of my article interviewed 36 boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 13; half of which grew up in a socially diverse environment and half of which did not. The half that grew up in a socially diverse environment showed maturity when it came to talking about the issue of racism, and shared their own thoughts on the matter. The half that did not grow up in a socially diverse environment treated racism not only as a minor issue, but as a joke as well. They would use racism as a slur to mean stupid, and they also did not fully understand what racism was. The results of this interview show how children not only learn from their parents, but they also learn from their independent experiences they have in their environments. The environment that Scout and Jem grow up in is extremely racist towards others, and at school, people use slang terms and insults towards black people.

In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, racism is a huge issue that Harper Lee tackles. A huge part of racism is how parents set environments for their kids and how parents model behavior for their kids to follow.