Brooke Graves - Chapters 26 & 27 - Explore Scout's confusion in class and then her altercation with Jem. What is the root of Scout's confusion about Miss Gates? How is Miss Gates being a hypocrite? Why does Harper Lee include this? What is the purpose?

       Scout was confused about Miss Gates because in class she taught the kids that everyone is equal in America, but Scout had heard her say, outside of the courthouse, that it was about time that blacks got taught a lesson. In class, Cecil talked about Hitler, and Ms. Gates taught the kids about how America is a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship. Scout explained to the class that a democracy is, "Equal rights for all, special privileges for none," (Lee 328). Later, when Scout talked to Atticus about Miss Gates's reaction to Hitler, she said, "Miss Gates said it was awful, Hitler doin' like he does, she got real red in the face about it," (Lee 330). When Scout went to Jem because she was confused, Scout told Jem, "Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was... talking with Miss Stephanie Crawford. I heard her say it's time somebody taught 'em a lesson, they were gettin' way above themselves, an' the next thing they think they can do is marry us," (Lee 331). Scout was extremely confused by this because Miss Gates told the class that Jews were equal to all of us, and it wasn't right for Hitler to put them away in a pen. Scout knew that despite what she taught the kids in class, she didn't believe that all people were equal. In the statement she made to Stephanie, she separated blacks from everyone else. She believes that blacks can't come near white woman, and they certainly don't have the right to marry a white woman.
       Miss Gates was being a hypocrite because she was teaching the kids to believe that all people are equal, but she believes that black people aren't equal. Harper Lee included this in the book to display that most people in Maycomb don't think of blacks as people, they think of them as an object, trash. They think of blacks as trash because if in their minds black are trash they don't have to give them equal rights.

Do you think that people in Maycomb really see blacks as trash because of reasons other then their skin color, or do they use that as an excuse to not give them equal rights?