Why did the white people of Maycomb resent Atticus so much for defending Tom?

Answer 1

Because back in those times, segregation was still in effect and the whites were not willing to accept that an African American could be innocent of a crime in which a white girl accused him of at that time.

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Answer 2

At this time, people were living under the racial segregation where blacks were viewed as inferior and treated with no respect by the whites...

It was the way of Maycomb that blacks were unimportant and no one thought them important.
In defending Tom, Atticus went against the views of the rest of people in the town. Indirectly - he was standing up against the racial segregation and thus challenging the beliefs of Maycomb.

He was also questioning their way of life, something that was very out of place in Maycomb as it was a village of great prejudice where people accepted racism as a part of their lifestyle and did not question. He was standing up against a major issue and one that was a large part of everyone's life. Also, he was the first person to ever take a stand against their way of life. Maycomb was a town where image was everything, there was a strict social hierarchy and strict social conduct that everyone followed. Atticus did something completely "wrong" and controversial; he broke the social conduct and dared to be different. Something that - when everyone else was so prejudice and so uptight about public image and standing - was seen as a wrong, awful thing to do.

Answer 3

in to kill a mockingbird, nobody liked blacks then. so even though tom was nice and innocent, nobody wanted to defend him since he was black. and nobody wanted atticus to defend him either.