Lula stopped, but she said, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”
…When I looked down the pathway again, Lula was gone. In her place was a solid mass of colored people.
One of them stepped from the crowd. It was Zeebo, the garbage collector. “Mister Jem,” he said, “we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways – we’re mighty glad to have you all.”
– Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 12. Lula, a member of Calpurnia’s church, is being racist and hypocritical because she doesn’t want Scout and Jem to attend the all-black church on account of their differences. This is the first time the children experience racism first-hand. Maycomb, like many other Southern cities in the 1930s, has a deep racial, social and historical divide that dates back to the days of slavery. But not everyone feels like Lula, and Scout and Jem are welcomed into the church by Zeebo, the garbage collector.
