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Scottsboro Trial Research Paper

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Today, in the United States, people are not punished for the color of their skin, back in the 1930s, a person’s race was taken into consideration when in court. There are many instances of racism in both trials, which impacted the outcome. The Scottsboro Trial consisted of two white girls and a group of black youths. 21 year old Victoria Price and 17 year old Ruby Bates were on a train ride back to their hometown, Huntsville, with a group of seven white boys. A group of 12- 15 black youths were said to have joined the train and, later, a white boy, stepped on Haywood Patterson, a black male’s hand, and a brawl erupted which caused the white boys to be driven out. After this, the white girls claimed that they were raped, each by six black males. …show more content…

In the book, Mayella framed a black man because she had tempted him, while in the Scottsboro Trials, Victoria and Ruby framed the black youths, not because they provoked the black youths, but because they wanted to clear their own name. In the Scottsboro Trial, Ruby Bates, after not appearing for months, confesses Victoria’s motives to the court. Ruby declares that Victoria had told her to “frame up a story” to avoid morals change (Linder, “The Trial of the Scottsboro Boys”). Whereas in Mayella Ewell’s case, she frames Tom to avoid being scrutinized by the public because she was the one that provoked a black man. “She was white and she …show more content…

One reason why their testimonies were doubted was because of their sketchy backgrounds. Because of their backgrounds, they were not respected by their community and, therefore, they were not trusted. Before the Scottsboro trials, both Victoria and Ruby worked at the Margaret Mill and they grew up lacking a father figure, something that brought shame to their families. Also, Victoria was said to be a prostitute and Ruby lived among Negroes (Ransdall). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is deceived by Mayella’s appearance, but then sees the true Mayella, “… she seemed somehow fragile looking, but when she sat facing us in the witness chair she became what she was, a thick- bodied girl accustomed to strenuous labor”(Lee 239). All three of the girls’ skin color also affected the outcome of the trials, they were all privileged white ladies, for that reason, the jury belived whatever they said. One of the black youths accused of rape, disclosed his thoughts saying, “ I knew if a white woman accused a black man of rape, he was as good as dead” (Linder, “Famous Trials”). This man knew he had little hope of winning the trial, like Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird. Attics knew that Mayella had the upper hand in this case because of her skin color, about this he says, “She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white.

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