Nine Scottsboro Boys Essay

The Strange Career of Jim Crow, published in 1955 by C. Vann Woodward, actually helped to shaped a part of U.S history. It was around the same time when the Civil Rights Movement was happening in the United States and right after the Supreme Court ’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education; this book was published to expose a clear and illuminating analysis of the history of the Jim Crow Laws. The south had choices to make regarding race, and the establishment; Jim Crow was not a person but was affiliate to represent the system of government and segregation in the United States. Named after the ‘racial caste system,’ Jim Crow affected millions of americans. Woodward analyzes the impact on the segregation between the North and the South by defining an argument, “Racism was originated in the North.”

The article The Trials of “The Scottsboro Boys,” by Douglas O. Linder speaks about, “an alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers on a Southern Railroad freight run on March 25, 1931.” The trial was closed when the boys were pronounced guilty in court. Some of the boys were sentenced to death and some were sentenced to life in prison. This conflict is similar to a quote from, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” that says,"My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from the water-tank!” (chapter 9.

All across the country there were several news articles related to rape charges against African Americans regardless if they had intention to do so or not. One Memphis paper talks about an African American “found in a white woman’s room in that city. Although she made no outcry of rape, he was jailed and would have been lynched” (p. 51). In Wells A Red Record, she used a record from the Chicago Tribune. Within the record it has 132 African Americans that have been lynched and with serval charges that called for them to be lynched (p. 78).

Through Southern Horrors, Ida B. Wells debunks the stereotype that black men are sexually violent towards white women and holds the South accountable for their acts of lynching. Southern Horrors was one of Ida B. Wells' best attempts to reform the South; it contains various reports on lynchings and her specific investigations. In her chapter “The Offense,” Wells references J.C Duke’s book, The Herald, where he states, “Why is it that when white women attract negro men now more than in former days? There was a time when such a thing was unheard of. There is a secret to this thing, and we greatly suspect it is the growing appreciation of white Juliets for colored Romeos.”

During the second trial of Haywood Patterson in March 1933, Victoria Price was again questioned as a witness, but her testimony was slightly different than in the original trial; she reacted to the questioning and accusations against her with “angry defiance” (1). Price’s testimony was further weakened after Ruby Bates testified. She denied that any of the Scottsboro boys had attacked or raped them at all, explaining that Price told her to make up a story to avoid charges being put against them (7). However, her testimony was not considered by the jury, and Patterson was sentenced to death, like in the original trial. In June 1933, a few months after Patterson’s second trial, Judge James Horton ordered a new trial for the case.

The Scottsboro case contributed to this situation in a very large way. Before the case blacks were automatically judged because the color of their skin. The two women who were allegedly raped on the train were white. All eight of the men accused were black men under the age of twenty. Considering these things it is obvious to see that many people treated the Scottsboro boys differently, because of their skin color.

According to the National Holocaust Encyclopedia titled “Nazi Camps,” from 1933 to 1945, more than 44,000 concentration and incarceration camps were established, causing 11 million people to lose their lives, and 6 million of those were Jewish. Only a small handful of people survived. Among those who survived, Ellie Wiesel was imprisoned in camps while neutral countries only watched. Because of his experience, Wiesel believes “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.”

Historians should interpret and disperse the first-hand accounts that are compiled into the book 100 Years of Lynchings, to help Americans understand exactly what happened from 1865 to the late 1900s. These accounts are written from a variety of stand points, allowing for a wide array of opinions. The majority of the

Chris Rock, a multi-millionaire American (black) actor, once stated, "Yeah , I love being famous. It 's almost like being white, y 'know?" Even in today 's world no matter how famous or rich a black man is, there will always be hatred and discrimination towards him because of his race. The Scottsboro Boys (The American Tragedy) and To Kill A Mockingbird both represent the brutality and fears of racism. The types of racism that are portrayed in today 's world, the novel and the video are unnecessary killings due to a corrupt court system, bullying (prejudice and social injustice) of the lower class (blacks) and poverty/unemployment (segregation).

They marched down the streets holding up signs that declared that no one color was better than the other. One popular slogan was, “Black and White unite and fight!”. With this sprout of random fame came the mothers, going on tour talking about their sons, and empowering blacks and non-racist whites as they went. Ruby Bates joined the mothers, apologized for lying, and blamed it all on Victoria Price, the nasty witch. The Scottsboro Trials obviously had one of the biggest impacts on our history that any trial has had.

Racism is something people resort to to cover up their guilt. For example, the author states, “When people’s self-esteem is threatened, prejudicial actions such as racism appear to restore esteem” (Routledge). People do not want to feel bad about themselves, so they find putting down others make them feel better. The people who resort to racism feel better when they see others have low self-esteem. Another idea that supports my topic is, in the video Scottsboro Boys, “Two women lied about how all nine of the Scottsboro Boys raped them so they do not get in trouble for being prostitutes” (Anderson).

Racism played a major part in the Scottsboro Trials. According to Schafer, “Racism highlights the classic struggle between the rulers and the ruled.” This quote means that people that have more power than the rest, will find a way to separate themselves from other people. In this case, they are separating them by skin color. Because most of the people in power had white skin, they wanted to be better than black people, so they made laws that were unfair towards the black people.

In the beginning of the 1800s, most African Americans in the South were trapped in the boom of the cotton industry under slavery. Early on, slavery was considered a “necessary evil”, but in 1831 John C. Calhoun coined slavery as the popularized “positive good”. African Americans were confined in bondage and barely had a chance at freedom. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 essentially prohibited the escape of slaves, while the decision made in Dred Scott v. Sandford practically legalized slavery everywhere in the United States. All slaves were finally freed when the 13th Amendment was passed and ratified after the Civil War.

The novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, as well as empirical research, prove that the Scottsboro Trials positively impacted the Civil Rights movement. According to an article titled, “Scottsboro Trials”, the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930s left a lasting impact on Civil Rights in America. In April of 1935, the United States Supreme Court declared that the

During the mid nineteen thirties there was ample prejudice from whites towards African Americans. This prejudice was greatly depicted in one particular case of nine young black men. The Scottsboro Boys were labeled as outcasts and faced a considerable amount of prejudice during their trials for a crime they had not committed; although some of the nine Boys were exonerated during the trials, the last of the Scottsboro Boys were not redeemed until decades later. On March 25, 1931, during the height of the Great Depression, a group of nine black boys, later known as the Scottsboro Boys, was traveling on a train towards Memphis, Tennessee, in search of work.