the witnesses of the state, with the exception of the sheriff of macom county, has presented them to yourselves, you gentlemen, of the court in their confidence that their testimony would not be doubted. believing that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption, the evil assumption that all negros lie, that all negros are basically immoral beings, that all negros are not to be trusted around our women. which, gentlemen, as you know in itself a lie as black as tom robinson's skin. a lie i do not need to explain to you. you know the truth and the truth is this -- that some negros lie. some negros are immoral. some negros are not to be trusted around women, black or white. but this is a truth that applies to the human race and not to any particular race of man. there is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire. one more thing, gentlemen, before i quit. thomas jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase which the yankees and the si