In To Kill A Mockingbird, Miss Gates says of Americans "we don't believe in persecuting anybody". Why is this an odd claim for her to make?

Well, think about what has happened in this book so far. 
And think that about the attitudes that people in Maycomb have.  Can you think of why
this is an odd claim?

So far in the book, a black man has
been convicted of a crime that he clearly did not do.  He has been convicted mostly
because of his race and because the white people of Maycomb feel the need to keep black
people "down."

So when Miss Gates says that Americans are
so much more tolerant than the Germans, it seems pretty odd given what has just happened
with Tom Robinson and given the attitudes of whites in Maycomb.