Gentlemen, you are good, honest, hard-working men. I know you, I know your values, and I know the truths you carry. I also know this decision is a difficult one— although it should not be— however, I happen to know that you, together, will come to the right conclusion.

Gentlemen, you spend your days in sweat and solitude, working the fields, working the stores, working. Your days are long, monotonous, and tiring. The Depression is hitting us hard now. I have no doubt that every single man in Maycomb County, Alabama, no matter who he may be or what he may look like, has carried the burden of the Depression on his shoulders since it began. You’ve carried it, and just like you, Tom Robinson— a good, honest, hard-working man— has carried it. The only difference between you and Tom Robinson is the difference between the colors of your skin.

You all have families— children who run with excitement when you come home from working, wives who support you in every aspect of being, mothers who raised you, and fathers who taught you what it means to be a man. Imagine how they would feel if you were wrongly charged for a crime you did not commit. Imagine how wrecked that house would feel without your presence, imagine the tears your children would cry, imagine how empty everyday life would feel without you in it.

Tom Robinson has a family too. He has a wife, Helen, three children, a mother, and a father, Spence.  Tom Robinson’s family would be heartbroken to see him incarcerated for a crime he did not and could not commit. If you make the wrong decision, gentlemen, the house of Tom Robinson will be wrecked. His children will shed those tears, his wife will be devastated, his parents would be crippled over the unfair outcome of their son’s life. I remind you: the only difference between you and Tom Robinson is the difference between the colors of your skin.

At the end of the day, every piece of “evidence” — and I say it like this because “the state has not provided one iota of medical evidence” during this trial— points to a man whose power lies in his left hand (TKAM 1:32:05-1:32:15). This man is not Tom Robinson. Now, Mayella Ewell was beaten, beaten brutally at that. Her assailant just simply could not have been Tom Robinson, not with the most concrete piece of evidence presented in this case pointing to someone else. It is clearly impossible for Tom to have committed this crime.

Not only is it physically impossible for Tom to have committed this crime, but it is also morally impossible. Like you and I, Tom Robinson is a man of God. He has proven himself to be nothing but sound of mind and sound of heart. He still had the decency to “feel right sorry” for a young white woman, even though she had so much more than he could ever dream about (TKAM 1:30:59-1:31:04). He still had the decency to do her chores for free after a long day of hard work. Why would such a noble man, such a God-fearing man, have the motive to commit such a ghastly crime? The answer is simple: there was no motive, as this was not his crime.

Please, gentlemen, I implore you. Put away these notions of black and white for just one day and vote in favor of what this great nation truly stands for: unadulterated justice. As men of God, find it within yourselves to make the choice that you know is the right one. Free Tom Robinson and his family from a lifetime of ill-deserved misery.

Works Cited

To Kill a Mockingbird.  Dir. Robert Mulligan. Universal International Pictures, 1962. DigitalCampus. Web. 13 September 2017.