On March 25, 1931, seven young white men entered a railroad stationmaster's office in northern Alabama. They claimed that while they were riding the rails, a "bunch of Negroes" picked a fight with them and threw them off the train. The stationmaster phoned ahead to the next station, near Scottsboro, Alabama. A Scottsboro deputy sheriff made deputies of every man in town with a gun. When the train stopped, the posse (group of people legally authorized keep the peace) rounded up nine young black men and two young white women. The women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, were dressed in men's caps and overalls.…
The Scottsboro Case is known to many. It is a significant case involving racism, lynching, segregation, and the Jim Crow laws. The case started on March 25, 1931, when two white women accused nine black men of rape while on a train headed to Jackson County, Alabama. The trial lasted years and ended with an unconstitutional verdict of guilty against the defendants. “Scottsboro captured South’s racism and the disturbance of the Great Depression.” (Scottsboro Trials). The Scottsboro Trials and Tom Robinson’s trial in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee have many similarities. With the similarities there are differences too. The stories that the people involved tell is one. In the case…
Thesis: American history was infinitely changed by the Scottsboro Boys case; the case exposed the country’s faulty judicial system, along with its civil and ethnic defects.…
Racism has a history of tarnishing cities, towns, nations, and whole races. In a small town in Vermont, racism tears apart the people and the community. In the book Witness written about a little town in Vermont in 1924. That little town in Vermont represents some of the many towns undergoing the issue of Klan (K.K.K) domination. Two people that experience the Klan violence are Reynard Alexander and Leanora Sutter; both characters go through experiences that similar, but also experience forms of violence that are different.…
On the night of March 25, 1931, a sheriff posse in Paint Rock, Alabama stopped a freight train traveling from Chattanooga, Tennessee. They arrested nine young black men on the train. They also found two young women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, dressed in men's overalls.…
Once the Civil War had ended, many rejoiced and thought that African Americans would be free to live out normal lives, but then came the increase of lynching. After the war, the Southern economy was in ruins, and lynching had allowed white southerners to express their hatred and discontent towards the situation and African Americans were the vulnerable targets for their pent-up anger (Notes). In Southern Horrors, Feimster introduces Rebecca Felton, who was a wealthy slave owner, and Ida B. Wells, a slave born women, and how each woman viewed this idea of lynching drastically diverse from each other due to their upbringings.…
A black man wrongly accused of raping a white women does not stand a chance in the criminal justice system of Maycomb county and Tom Robinson is aware of that. Although he will not go down without a fight. Tom Robinson confronts his fears and shows courage by getting a lawyer to defend himself. Tom knows the jury is plotted against him but by getting a lawyer he proves he will not give up and will fight for the truth, displaying real courage. For example ; "Real courage...(is not) man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do"(Lee, 116). Tom knows the odds are against him but follows through anyway because he knows the truth and will not let a prejudice society dictate otherwise. Tom faces society and a great fear of standing up to a white community, with courage and his own dignity to keep him fighting for.…
During the time of Jim Crow Laws, black people were not allowed to vote or have any voting roles, which banned them from serving on juries. This resulted in juries, police officers, and courtroom roles to be all-white. Racism led to the unfair convictions of many innocent black people. Some of these people may have not been tried, and they may have been lynched before they got the chance. Today, all trials are judged fairly, and all courtroom roles can be of whatever race. The influence upon Harper Lee to write her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was based on real life events. These include the Scottsboro Trials, expectations upon women in the South, and Jim Crow Laws.…
Samuel Leibowitz adds, "The whole damnable thing was a frame-up of two irresponsible women."( In Their Own Words). Nine black teenage boys got into a fight on the bus with a group of white men and women. The fight resulted in the whites being thrown off the bus. The nine boys were arrested and charged with assault. Two white women’s accusations led to the charge being changed from assault to rape.…
The Scottsboro trials occurred in the 1930s and had nine African American boys aging from thirteen to seventeen and they were accused of raping two girls on a train. Eight of the nine boys were sentenced to death and one of them was too young for the death penalty so he was sentenced to life in prison. There was a lot of evidence that pointed to them being innocent. Like the two girls were examined by a doctor and he found no evidence of rape, but he was not called to court, but he told a lot of people. Also they found out the girls were prostitutes and they were crossing a border illegally so they covered it up saying they were raped. Later on, during the case one of the girls admitted that she was never raped. Also the boys were not in the same train cart as the girls (Johnson). The Scottsboro trials are a lot like Tom Robinson’s trial in To Kill a Mockingbird. The cases are a lot alike, because they both took place during the Great Depression and they both are rape cases. Also the towns took the white person’s side instead of the African Americans sides (Johnson). That is why the Scottsboro trials are like the trials in To Kill a…
One day, the boys were riding a train. Some white teenagers, who were also on the train, accused the Scottsborro boys of beating them and kicking them off of the train. When the police arrived to investigate, 2 white girls riding on the train accused the boys of raping them. Some of the Scottsboro boys admitted to fighting with the white boys. Contrarily, there lacked evidence that the boys had raped the 2 girls. Medical evidence suggested no rapes had taken place. Despite evidence that no rapes had occurred, all 9 boys were incarcerated. In fact all of the boys except for the youngest (a 12 year old named Roy Wright) were convicted of rape and sentenced to death. The case was appealed. The Scottsboro boys endured 4 trials that spanned a decade. During the trials, the boys were denied impartial juries, appropriate legal counsel, fair trails, and fair sentencing. Following the first trial, Samuel Leibowitz (who was a well known lawyer) defended the boys. Four of the 9 boys were freed after enduring 6 years in prison. Eventually, all of the boys except for 1 were…
Ever thought about the rough path that was created in order to establish equality amongst the blacks and whites? Or all the people who were accused of unjustly due to racial prejudice? The Scottsboro trial of 1931 showed not only the racial prejudice against African Americans, but also showed the changing attitude that occurred from the nation’s reaction to such a trial, providing an opportunity for change. 1931, a time filled with racial discrimination, began the unfortunate circumstance for nine African Americans.…
PB’s American Experience has impacted the view of racism towards blacks immensely. This event was a very prominent turning point in American history. The Scottsboro boys case has been one of the largest cases involving a black man (men) and a white women in the case of rape. This event has affected how people are judged now including taking age into consideration, not getting the facts correct, and the fact that black’s used to be very unfairly treated just because of the color of their skin. Laws, punishments, and law enforcement have changed very much since the 1930’s. Much of the racism has gone down, but it has also turned into other types of racism. Truly, the Scottsboro boys case has impacted American History in a very large way. Many…
Racism remained prevalent as it had been since slavery was introduced to the United States, however racism was emphasized during this time as people felt their way of life was threatened, their class, wealth, and social standing was declining, and their future was uncertain. Racism had extreme power specifically in the criminal justice system of the United States at this time and court cases were often determined by race alone. In particular, rape cases were controversial because of blatant abuse of power and white men taking advantage of women’s false accusations and role in society to imprison black men. In the 1930s white male juries over convicted black men for the then capital crime of rape. Later, scientific evidence and great decreases in wide spread racism disproved many of these past rulings. While men were the people with power at the time, and had the position of deciding rape cases, women were blamed for these wrongful sentences. Because of this, rape today goes extremely unreported and many trials do not consider evidence or testimonies and immediately declare the suspect innocent. Additionally, there is a powerful stigma around women accusing others of rape or sexual assault now because it is assumed they are lying or exaggerating the truth. This undeniably ties back to when women falsely accused men of rape to protect themselves during the Great Depression. And although they had a conscience during this time—numerous women recanted their testimonies soon after, men went over their heads to convict, and women and black men ultimately suffered the consequences. White men have consistently gained from manipulating the judicial system and in no way intended to help others when charging black men with rape 80 years ago, and by not believing or following through with investigating rape against women today. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee…
These two men grew up in an old fashioned southern town, a town that was well known for dominance of white males. The attack on Tonya Hailey wasn’t a crime of racism; this was a crime of callous, personal insecurity, and hatred of who they really may be. If these two men were anything but straight, they would be considered exile. They wouldn’t be part of the “group.” Therefore, they seek out and commit crimes, break the law and create problems for the town as a way to lash out there hidden pain.…