Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

One of the reasons that the Scottsboro Boys were innocent was because of the lack of witnesses from the scene. Throughout the four trials against the boys there were only ever two true witnesses that were from the scene. These two were Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. It was the nine black mens word against the two white

One of the events which sparked massive discussions of racial inequality across America was the famous trial of the Scottsboro boys, nine African American boys who were the victims of a false accusation of the rape of two white girls. The alleged rapes occurred on March 25th, 1931. Due to the Great Depression, “hoboing” or riding freight trains free was common at the time, and the train’s passengers - two white girls, four white boys, and nine black boys who did not know each other - were all illegally onboard. Around halfway through the train’s journey through southern Alabama, a fight erupted between the white boys and the black boys, resulting in the black boys forcing all but one of the white boys off the train - Haywood Patterson, one of the soon-to-be infamous Scottsboro boys, pulled Orville Gilley, the white boy, back onto the train when he realised

The Scottsboro Trials of Alabama, started in 1931. Nine African American boys were accused of raping two girls on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama.(A Tragedy of the American South) A fight broke out between white and black groups of youths. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates accused the boys of rape.(A Tragedy of the American South) Instead of the two girls getting charged with vagrancy and prostitution, they blamed the black boys of raping them..(A Tragedy of the American South) Rape was a politically explosive charge in the south.(A Tragedy of the American South) The case went to the US Supreme court in 1937, where Clarence Norris called the girls liars and was then struck by a bayonet.(A Tragedy of the American South) After going to court the boys spent two years between their first trials and second round. (Tragedy of the American South) One

The Scottsboro boys arrest and subsequent trials reflect the social, political, and racial divisions in America based on how everything revolved around and connected with the trials. The social aspect was demonstrated by the trial because the Caucasian women who claimed they were raped, did it to avoid the consequences of the Mann Act (outlawed travel for prostitution and human trafficking). The Mann Act itself represents the moral progressive reforms that were written by the influence of progressive thoughts during that time period. The economical struggle can be seen as man and women are riding trains to just about anywhere with jobs and women were in such financial situations that they had to sell sex to basically survive. The political

The boys of the Scottsboro trials were never treated fairly from the beginning. The whole journey was filled with misconception. The journey began on the freight train, there was nine African Americans on a train car and with them, was a group of Caucasian men. It all started with one of the white males stepping on the hand of one of the blacks. Not too long after, the white males threatened the nine boys to leave the train car (Doc). After the nine black males refused their threat, a fight broke out between all of them. All of the members of the white group were thrown off the train, all, but one. The one that was left on the train went and reported the fight to the train conductor.

In the year 1931, all nine of the Scottsboro boys Haywood Patterson, Charles Weems, Clarence Norris, Andy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Olen Montgomery, Eugene Williams, Willie Roberson, and Roy Wright are arrested and tried on charges of assault from fighting white boys on a train. Along with accusations made by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates that the boys raped them. Their trial begins April 6, 1931. All of the boys except for Roy Wright are tired and convicted, with the result of the death sentence, Roy Wright’s trial ends in a mistrial. Later the NAACP and International Labor Defense, fight to represent the boys. Even though there was no proof that the boys committed these crimes they

This is how the story of the Scottsboro Boys begin. March 25, 1931 four African American boys jumped on a freight car in Chattanooga, TN. The boys names were Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, Roy and Andy Wright (Aretha 9). A white boy stepped on Patterson’s hand and almost pushed Williams off the train, then the trouble began (Aretha 10). After Patterson stood up for his friends and himself, the white boys got mad and threw rocks at the black youths. The boys from Chattanooga were joined by other black men. After the four from Chattanooga told them about what happened, the four and about 8 others confronted the attackers. A fight broke out and some whites jumped off the train and some were tossed off. One white boy remained, Orville Gilley, because the black boys decided it wouldn’t be safe to toss him off (Aretha 12). There were also two white girls on the train, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates (Aretha 10). The train

The Scottsboro boys were nine African American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama during the year 1931. No crime in American history that never occurred has produced as many trials, convictions, and retrials as the alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers did. This tragedy marks a time in the United States where African Americans were not receiving the right to a fair trial and encountering racism because of their skin color. This court case is seen as one of the major examples that one innocent person or in this case many innocent people have been convicted and punished for a crime they did not commit.

The Scottsboro Boys was a nationally controversial case; and it all began with nine African-American men and two white women aboard a train. The train ride began on March 25, 1931. A fight erupted between the African-American men and the white men on board the train, and the African-American men won and forced the white men off. After news of the fight spread to Paint Rock, Alabama, all able men with weapons waited for the train to arrive for its mortar stop. When the train pulled in, a racial confrontation immediately ensued. In the midst of it all, two women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, emerged from a train car and claimed they had been raped by the nine African-American men that had been on the train. Only the verbal confirmation from one of the white women that they had been raped was enough to send the public into a frenzy. The men of Paint Rock surrounded the African-American boys and forced them to line up against a wall. Then they aggressively made them stand and wait for a bus to take them to Scottsboro. The Scottsboro Boys were surrounded by the aggressive public as soon as they were put in the Scottsboro jail. The sheriff had to go out and declare that violence towards the prisoners would result in violence towards the instigator. While Atticus Finch did not condone violence, this is similar to the To Kill A Mockingbird jail scene. Additionally, Victoria Price, one of the accusers, had traits similar to those of Mayella Ewell. When the trials actually began, she would be extremely evasive on the witness stand, and claim she did not know what would seem to be rather obvious information. Also, her manner indicated she was uneducated, and like Mayella, and she would frequently burst out in unintelligible streams of sentences. She was tough as nails, with foul language, and improper clothes. She "hardly fit the stereotype of the young Southern

White defendants when the victim was white. In the midst of it all, the rape of Black women by white men throughout slavery and until this very day and age goes on hardly ever talked about, and justifies this manner as an additional technique used as an essential weapon to maintain white male supremacy, and dehumanize Black persons culture. This piece will examine how gender and race interconnects with the perception of what is considered criminal intent and the justice system. Gender acts on as an important task in recognizing who commit what sorts of crimes, why they carry out so, who is frequently wronged, and most importantly how the criminal justice system take actions to these victims and wrongdoers. How the many racial occurrences shape they way our society is structured and what impact it on has women’s bodies. One will observe how rape is surrounded by the unlawful beliefs and will bring to light why one should be aware of those beliefs and its approach towards women. Those accused of raping Black and White women, if they are Black men they will be charged much more severe and more than likely, in the past, become lynching victims. If a White man is accused of rape, generally excuses are made for his acts of crime and are often let off and won’t be held culpable. One will argue that lynching and rape was an answer premeditated to hark back blacks of their "true" position, to uphold decreasing white male domination.

April 6, 1931, the trials for the Scottsboro boys begin(Uschan 16). The boys were represented 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 (“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 (“UMKC” par. 6-7).

In one of the most well known cities of the United States, New York City was the central focus in the 1980’s. Five minority youths aged 14 to 16 were arrested and convicted of rape, sexual assault, and almost murdering 28-year old white female investment banker, Trisha Meili, as she was jogging through Central Park on the night of April 19th, 1989. These innocent Latino and African American five young men— Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam—were exonerated in 2002 after serving 6-13 years in prison until the condemned murderer, Matias Reyes confessed to the rape of Trisha Meili, where his DNA was discovered to match the evidence

The young child sat in the shocked silence of the courtroom, while the final words of the judge boomed through his head. The chill from the metal bench begun to seep into his bones, freezing his marrow, and almost stopping his heart. His mother had just been convicted of a crime she didn’t commit. And the penalty was harsh, as it always is for murders. But with a start the boy knew that he wasn’t very surprised, the judge had his mind made up before the trial even begun. His mother was african american, and the judge was white. In times like these, the slap in the face of unfairness shouldn’t have been a surprise. The child’s thoughts shattered like glass, and he was jolted back into reality when he heard the click of the hand cuffs that had

On the night of March 25th, 1931, nine young black men were on their way to find work. They were riding in a freight train to find work. However, they were riding the train illegally and were found after getting into a fight with two white hobos. The crew found them and called the sheriff and when the sheriff arrived there were two young white prostitutes riding in a completely different train car than the black men. Once the sheriff saw the women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price, he told them that he knew they were prostitutes and if they didn't accuse the black men of raping them he would take them to jail. So the women were scared of being caught and accused the nine black men, Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson, Eugene Williams, and Andrew and Leroy Wright, of assaulting and raping them on the train. They were taken to trial for rape allegations in Jackson County Seat, Scottsboro, Alabama. Despite the fact that the fourteenth amendment had been voted

Scottsboro case was at first directed on March 25, 1931, in Scottsboro Alabama. The case included dark adolescents who later wound up plainly acclaimed as Scottsboro Boys. Young men included Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Ozie Powell, Eugine Williams, Charlie Weems, Roy Wright and Haywood Patterson. The named dark youngsters were dishonestly blamed to have group assaulted two white ladies. This case wound up noticeably a standout amongst the most disputable and confused cases in the historical backdrop of United States of America (Sorensen 4).