Calm down Mr.Gilmer...

After finishing the direct examination with Tom, it is now Mr. Gilmer's turn to cross examine him. Remember that during a cross examination, the attorneys are allowed to rapid fire and make the witness look untrustworthy. That does not mean that you can badger them, however. That is when the other attorney will object. Since these are the Jim Crow Laws, and an African American is being cross examined. If everyone else involved in the trial is white, they might bend the rules to give the whites the advantage. During the cross examination, Mr. Gilmer is being extra racist. He is doing this to remind everyone in the courtroom that African Americans are still inferior to the whites in Maycomb. When Mr. Gilmer asks Tom why he would continue to help Mayella, Tom responds by saying that he felt bad for her. As soon as he said this, he immediately regretted it. Back in those days in Maycomb, the whites were supposed to look down on the African Americans. It was the way things were "supposed" to be with the power structure in Maycomb. It made Dill, who is the only one with his childhood innocence intact, burst into tears. The way that Mr. Gilmer called him "boy" in a very condescending way made Dill become sick. The whole time Mr. Gilmer was making a joke of Tom by being very rude to him. Tom remained calm and called him "sir" throughout the whole examination.

I now have much less respect for Mr.Gilmer now. You could possibly argue that he was being smart about it, but I doubt that the jury will even pay attention to what is going on. I think that Mr.Gilmer is name calling to keep everything the way it is, like how we discussed in class. He is doing it simply to get the upper hand and to get the attention of the jury. If the jury is somehow entertained, or feeling powerful, they will most likely vote guilty. Once again, the jury will hardly pay any attention to evidence, and will not be considering switching sides any time soon. This makes me feel bad on the inside, just as Dill is. You cannot just talk that way to another human. Now I have my eye on Mr. Gilmer to see if he will have any more racism in his closing argument. I am also hyped for Atticus's closing argument.