The Scottsboro Trials Essay - 1244 Words

March 25, 1931, nine men hopped on to a freight train of no return (Uschan 10). Unjust, prejudice, and racist the Scottsboro Trials, were definitely not just another ordinary case. The Scottsboro Trials changed how America viewed segregation. The nine young men, who hopped onto that train that day, were innocent and harmless. The Scottsboro Trials revealed the unjust treatment that African Americans faced outside of the Harlem Renaissance and changed views on segregation. Boarding the train from Chattanooga to Memphis seems like an innocent thing to do (â€Å"UMKC† par. 2). For the Scottsboro boys, boarding that train was one of the worst things they could have done. Two dozen whites and black road the train that day, and within the first†¦show more content†¦They were so furious that they demanded that the sheriff give them the Scottsboro boys so they could hang them (Uschan 14)! April 6, 1931, the trials for the Scottsboro boys begin(Uschan 16). The boys were repre sented by Milo C. Moody and Stephen Roddy who were only given twelve days to prepare for the trials. Stephen was and unpaid, unprepared real estate attorney, and Milo was a forgetful seventy year old local attorney who hadn’t tried a case in a long time (â€Å"San Marcos† line 13). The trails were completely unorganized and false information was stated throughout the whole thing. The cross examination of Victoria Price lasted minutes and the defense offered very little information to the judge. Six out of the nine boys ended up denying the rape while 3 admitted to it. Even though the three men didn’t rape the women, because of beatings and threats, they admitted to the gang rape. By the time the trail had ended 8 out of the 9 boys were convicted and sentenced to death. Since one of the Scottsboro boys was only thirteen, he was considered too young to be tried as an adult (â€Å"UMKC† par. 6-7). On January of 1932, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled by a 6-1 vote that all but one of the eight men were guilty. Once again they were all sentenced to the death penalty. Then the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. The court ruled by a 7-2 vote that right ofShow MoreRelatedThe Scottsboro Trials Essay1097 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scottsboro Trials Racism wasted the lives of nine young, black men. In a trial where the only plausible evidence proved their innocence, they were still convicted. They were accused of rape, but all it was was an accusation. There was nothing to back it up. They endured many trials almost all of which had prejudice juries. This is the story of nine young men who had little, and then had everything taken away from them. On March 24, 1931, nine black youthsRead MoreThe Trials Of The Scottsboro Boys1477 Words   |  6 PagesThe trials of the Scottsboro Boys, one of the most important judicial cases of the 1930’s arose when nine African-American young men rode the train in Scottsboro, Alabama in search for work. Instead of finding job opportunities, they found themselves faced with death sentences after being wrongly accused of raping two white teenage girls. The case lasted approximately six years due to campaigns that claimed it dealt with racism and began to demand their right to a fair trial. Fiela’s Child, publishedRead MoreThe Scottsboro Trials And Racial Prejudice1707 Words   |  7 Pagesincludes The Scottsboro Trials. Both stories uprise in the 1930s, displaying a white supremacist mindset, which two cases fall into the conviction of rape. The Scottsboro case started on a train to northern Alabama to southern Tennessee, when nine African American boys, ranging in ages from 1 3-19, allegedly raped two â€Å"innocent† Caucasian women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Racial discrimination uprises in American judicial system when shown in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Trials throughRead MoreScottsboro Trials and to Kill a Mockingbird1165 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place in and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers, was a major part of all of theseRead MoreUnfair Treatment during the Scottsboro Trials1739 Words   |  7 PagesAround this time blacks were still not treated fairly, even in poverty. In the Scottsboro case in Alabama two white woman prostitutes falsely accused nine African American youths of rape on a freight train car; the boys were convicted in every trial due to the prejudices of an all white jury, and they had an attorney with little to no motivation to put any effort into their defense. The boys of the Scottsboro trials were never treated fairly from the beginning. The whole journey was filled withRead MoreScottsboro Trial: The Real Trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird954 Words   |  4 PagesThe historical Scottsboro Trial and the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in the book To Kill a Mockingbird have striking similarities that may or may not be coincidence. Both trials took place in Alabama during the same era of relentless prejudice and bias, which is a major factor in each of these cases. In both cases, the accusers were white women and the persecutors were black men; therefore the black men were immediately considered liars and â€Å"wrongdoers†, unlike the word of the white women, whichRead MoreCompare and Contrast: â€Å"to Kill a Mockingbird† Scottsboro Trials978 Words   |  4 Pageswas writing about the trial of Tom Robinson in â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird,† she had a very real case to look to for inspiration. The trial of t he Scottsboro Boys was a world renowned case in the 1930’s in which nine black youths were accused of raping to white girls in Alabama. Lee’s novel took this case and created the fictional case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a lower class white girl in a small town in Alabama during the Depression-era. The Scottsboro trials were the main sourceRead MoreEssay about The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill A Mockingbird1164 Words   |  5 Pages The Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place in and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of quot;All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers,quot; was a major partRead More The Scottsboro T rials, Brown v. Mississippi, and trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird1733 Words   |  7 PagesThe Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird The purpose of this essay is to compare three very similar cases, the Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird; and to prove why the defendant of the third trial never had a chance. Each took place in the rural South in the 1920’s and 30’s and involved the unfair conviction of young black males by all-whiteRead MoreSimilarities Between To Kill a Mocking Birds and the Scottsboro and Tom Robinson Trial1045 Words   |  5 PagesThe Scottsboro Trial and the Tom Robinson Trial are almost identical in the forms of racism and prejudice shown and the the actual trial and the trials outcome. The racism and prejudice is clear and is a key factor throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Both trials are very common when it came to the time period, the time the trials have taken place in, those who were persecuted and lastly, why they were persecuted in the first place. â⠂¬Å"All blacks were liars, and always was