When seeing Scout and Jem in town, a man on the street mumbles, “They c’n go loose and rape up the countryside for all of ’em who run this county care” (180). What does he mean? Why does this man say such a thing at the sight of Scout and Jem? Who is this man accusing of being rapists?

At the beginning of chapter 14, Scout mentions that every time she and Jem went into town, they would hear various farmers and countrywomen in straw hats commenting on them being Atticus's children as they walked to the store. Scout recalls hearing one skinny gentleman say,

They c’n go loose and rape up the countryside for all of ‘em who run this county care (Lee, 136).

The man is alluding to the Tom Robinson case, in which a black man is accused of raping a white woman. In the prejudiced town of Maycomb, the majority of the citizens automatically assume that Tom raped Mayella, because he is black. During the trial, Atticus refers to this prejudiced way of thinking as the "evil assumption."
The skinny man is essentially saying that the authority figures in Maycomb county, like Judge Taylor, Sheriff Tate, and Atticus Finch, could care less if any black person is traveling throughout the countryside raping innocent white women. The racist man does not agree with Judge Taylor's decision to allow Atticus to represent Tom Robinson and feels like the authority figures in Maycomb are favoring the black community. The rude man is clearly upset that Atticus plans on defending Tom Robinson and feels the need to express his outrage in front of Jem and Scout. He may also be attempting to intimidate Jem and Scout or indirectly influence them into thinking that their father is wrong for defending Tom Robinson. Overall, the racist man is commenting on his beliefs that the authority figures in Maycomb are supporting and enabling black men to rape white women.