How could they do it, how could they? "I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it - seems that only children weep."

“How could they do it, how could they?”
“I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it – seems that only children weep.”

– Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 22. Jem asks his father Atticus why the jury found Tom Robinson guilty. In his reply Atticus suggests that the racism involved in the verdict is part of the community’s past, present and future. Jem had left the courtroom angry and crying, having been certain Atticus was going to get the black man set free.

Harper Lee Quotes