why do the black people stand when Atticus leave the court room?

During the time of the book, racism was still very high and the chances of a black person being able to beat a white man or women in court were incredibly hard or even impossible. This is proven true in the book when Reverend Sykes tells Jem that he never saw a jury favor a colored man over a white one and that he should not have his hopes up for Tom. Throughout the trial even, the colored community is segregated into the balconies while the white people are on the ground level. The trial of Tom Robinson comes to a conclusion. One that the children did like at all. Tom is pleaded guilty. When Atticus was making his closing statements he was talking about how the jury should do the right thing and how the courtroom was the one place where everyone should be treated equally. Even though Atticus proves that Tom could not have beaten Mayella and the only person who could have done it was her father, the jury believed that Tom was still guilty. As Atticus is walking down the aisle in disappointment, the black community stands up to honor him. Atticus’ devotion to insure that Tom Robinson gets treated equally in the courtroom is something that the black community had never seen before. They stand out of respect for him because they understand the sacrifices Atticus made to take this case. They understood the dedication and commitment Atticus had for a cause he lost the case even before it began. But even though Atticus lost the trial, the extent he went to, to ensure that Tom was innocent showed something to the black community. and as he passed by them from the ground level, everyone on the balcony stood up in respect for what Atticus had done.