Prejudice and Injustice
Throughout early history, it was very rare for African American people to be judged without bias. The case of the Scottsboro Boys proves this to be true. In 1931, late March, nine black men boarded a train heading South, in hopes of finding work. As the train came to a stop in Alabama, a group of white youth and the black men got into a quarrel. There weren't as many of the white youths, so they ended up being the ones that got beat up. Not content with how the fight turned out, a few of them reported an altercation between the two ladies on board and the black men. When the police boarded the train at the next stop, the two women accused the men of raping them. The police took all of them into custody and had Victoria Price and Ruby Bated sent to a doctor. A week went by before the alleged rape was dealt with in Scottsboro, Alabama (Hanes 161).
Before the trial even began, everyone knew what the final verdict would be. Doctors had proven the fact that that there were no indications of rape or trauma from the incident, but refused to testify in order to save their business. All boys were given the death penalty upon completion of the trial, except for the twelve-year old boy, who had a mistrial. The Scottsboro Boys were all …show more content…
The group of boys needed a lawyer who would be willing to defend them to the best of their ability. Samuel Leibowitz finally stepped up and took over their case. He destroyed Price’s testimony, leaving the jury with the obvious fact of their innocence (“The Scottsboro Boys” American). After this happened, Bate’s withdrew her previous statement of rape and claimed that, both her and Victoria, made up this allegation. Price stuck to her statement, so Haywood Patterson was given a life sentence once again. Thinking that the jury made the wrong decision, Judge Horton put in for there to be a new trial (Hanes