Racism is rampant in our world and although it is no longer as spoken and public as before, it still persists in our society. Neither greed, nor abandonment, nor selfishness, nor ignorance affects people the way racism does. It makes people feel inferior over something they can't really control before they're born; they had no choice regarding their race, religion, wealth, or location. Then making someone feel unwanted or unequal based on those qualities is appalling. Racism can destroy, severely impair, and even end people's lives, as shown in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird starring Tom Robinson, Scout Finch, and Bob Ewell. As unnecessary as it is harmful, racism plunges people into a world of despair for victims and awareness for witnesses. To begin with, one of the many people affected by racism in this book was Tom Robinson and he was without a doubt the one most affected. Tom Robinson was wrongly accused of the assault and rape of a young white woman named Mayella Ewell. He was wrongly accused by her and her father Bob Ewell. At his trial, Tom Robinson was defended by Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch has no prejudice and knows that Tom is innocent and he feels it is his duty to do everything he can to prove it. Atticus stated before the trial that “…when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee 295). In the 1930s, the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama was rife with prejudice and most whites felt that all blacks were inferior to whites and therefore could not be trusted. This is why, in a court of law, a black man will almost never be able to win. Atticus knows it and he doesn't believe they will win, but he intends to do everything to make the jury think and question themselves. Middle of paper, we were coming home from a Halloween competition. Luckily for the children, Boo Radley was watching from his home and came to the children's aid. In the commotion, Boo stabs Bob, killing him. To conclude, racism affected Bob Ewell in an opposite way to Tom Robinson, but it was still the flaw that led to his death. As we can see, in To Kill a Mockingbird, racism affects the lives of many people, making them seem like cruel and heartless criminals who take advantage of young women, or revealing the unfair and unjust side of the world, or even consuming a man, leading to one's own death. The effects of racism are strongly felt by the victim and by anyone who witnesses it in their own life. Although it is less visible in our society today than in the past, its impacts are still felt and it is still as harmful and unnecessary as it has ever been..