The United States Department Of Defense - 2228 Words

The headquarters for the United States Department of Defense has twice the number of bathrooms needed for a building its size. Known more commonly as â€Å"the Pentagon† after its unique, five walled frame, the defense building was constructed during the early 1940’s in Virginia, where a code of regulations dubbed the â€Å"Jim Crow laws† required people of color to use separate facilities from white citizens. The Jim Crow laws segregated schools, transportation and public places. Although they claimed to make colored and Caucasian citizens â€Å"separate but equal† they typically left African Americans with inferior conditions and facilities; their libraries only carried secondhand books, their schools were overcrowded and underfunded, and they†¦show more content†¦The story is told from the perspective of two children, Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and her brother Jeremy (Jem) Finch, growing up in Maycomb, Alabama, a small, sleepy town in the Ameri can South during the early 1930’s. As Jem and Scout mature, people in Maycomb, like a poor classmate, their elusive neighbor and a wrongly convicted African American, teach them the immorality of discrimination and the inaccuracy of stereotypes. One of the characters affected most dramatically by stereotyping in To Kill a Mockingbird is Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer’s son, who is discriminated against because of his status in society. When Scout is rude to Walter after she and her brother invite him to their house for lunch. Scout tells her cook, Calpurnia, She does not have to be polite to Walter because,â€Å"he ain’t company... he’s just a Cunningham† (Lee 24). Although Scout does not know Walter very well at the time of her statement, her opinion of him has been prematurely influenced by Walters place in society. Scout claims â€Å"he ain’t company† (24) because he belongs to a poor, low class family, the Cunninghams. She believes that Walter’s supposed commonality means he does not need to be treated with the same courtesy she shows other guests. Even at a young age, Scout has been influenced by the corrupt belief that some people are born better or more important than others, and stereotypes Walter as someone unimportant. However, as time wears on Scout comes to know Walter better and view