Mr. Dolphus Raymond at first seems to be the town drunk, always carrying a paper bag around and drinking out of it. He also lives with an African-American woman and has several children with her. Therefore, the white Dolphus Raymond has broken perhaps the most important social taboo in Maycomb, and this is even more shocking since Jem tells Scout that he comes from and old and wealthy family in Maycomb.
When Dill starts crying during Tom's cross-examination, the kids go outside the courtroom, where they run into Mr. Raymond. He offers Dill a drink from his sack, and the kids are stunned to learn it's simply soda. Mr. Raymond explains that the upper white society in Maycomb could never understand why he would choose to spend his time with African Americans. They want to hate him, of course, so he provides a very tangible reason: being the town drunk. This makes it easy for them to latch on to a reason for what they consider his poor choices:
When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey—that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does.
This exchange shows how sometimes people who don't fit in socially have to learn to make some compromises in order to live the life they desire. Mr. Raymond is willing to further sacrifice his social standing in order to avoid dealing with white prejudices regarding his choices. It is much easier to play the part of a drunk and deal with the fallout from that characterization.
In order to avoid scandal falling upon his family because of his unconventional lifestyle, Mr. Dolphus Raymond pretends that he is a drunkard.
In Chapter 19, the sensitive Dill is overcome by Mr. Gilmer's cruel interrogation of Tom Robinson. The children leave the courtroom and encounter Mr. Raymond, who offers Dill his drink inside the paper sack. After he drinks some, Dill releases the straws and grins. "Scout, it's nothing but Coca-Cola." Mr. Raymond asks the children not to reveal his secret. Then he explains why he pretends to be inebriated all the time. "Some folks don't—like the way I live. Now I could say I don't care if they don't like it, right enough—but I don't say the hell with 'em, see?"
Mr. Raymond knows how appalled and disturbed the citizens of Maycomb would be if he consciously, with a sober mind, chose to live with a black woman and have children with her. But by pretending that he is an alcoholic, Mr. Raymond ensures people write him off. His decision to live with a black woman, they feel, is the product of his drinking—not a social commentary and a judgment against the white community of Maycomb.
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