[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Piffle! Atticus Finch's views on race are like Bert and Ernie's sexuality. He is a fictional character, and takes on whatever attributes his author imbues him with. The Atticus of Mockingbird may have thought that the Negro was in his childhood as a race, but did not think that that meant Tom Robinson should be punished for a crime which never occurred. The two views are not inconsistent.

[goodwithagun]

Agreed. As long as one respects others’ God given rights, then one’s personal feelings and biases are fine. When somebody tries to infringe upon God given rights based on their biases (gay “marriage”, mandatory birth control coverage, infanticide) then that’s another story. Atticus, based on how he was written in TKAM, was conservative.