...Making African American History In 1931, nine black boys were falsely accused of allegedly raping two white girls on a train in Scottsboro, Alabama. In all actuality, the Scottsboro Boys were minding their own business when a white man stepped on Haywood Patterson’s hand which led to a fight between the two groups of boys. The black boys won the fight and threw the others off of the train, but were met by police at the next stop who were told by two white women that they had been raped. Those boys were found guilty and had a retrial several times, they even went to the Supreme Court twice just to become free. Only one of the boys was never found not guilty and that was Haywood Patterson, so he ended up escaping prison to finally become free from the grasps of Alabama. The PBS short film on the Scottsboro Boys had displayed the impact of the Scottsboro Boys on African American history. To begin with, the Scottsboro Trials had a great deal of impact on the way the legal system was ran in the United States of America. Black defendants were allowed the right to have a fair case, and to make this happen they would have half of the jury be black. That right had to be passed on because of the fact that there were way...
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...Kander and Ebb’s Scottsboro Boys was a gutty, heart-wrenching, laughter-ensuing conglomeration of a performance dealing with the prejudiced climate of the American South in the early 20th century. The story centered around a group of young black men who were falsely accused rape, leading to an uphill battle which could only be ended with death. Aside from the quite scene with a woman on a park bench, the production starts off with an energetic, in–your-face vigor as 11 black actors enthusiastically engage the audience from the side aisles as they bounce around on to the stage. The music was powerful and the choreography was intensely sharp, while preserving its element of swagger. The introductory sequence foreshadowed what looked like was going to be a fun and wild ride. And while the ride was wild and fun, the show gradually adopted darker elements, which incarnated into a prevailing grim undercurrent that ran parallel to the performance’s surface-level showbiz flair. The contrast translated into such a divisive, emotional tone in the end, that one is not sure whether to laugh or sit there catatonically trying to comprehend it all. The greatness of this gap was brilliantly demonstrated in a moment where one of the characters said, “I finally got a gun… and I shot myself,” which took place amidst happy, energetic melodies and animated cheery-eyed dancers. The implications of this social commentary were very profound. As a whole, the cast showed masterful levels of skill variety...
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...One night in Scottsboro during the tragic time of segrigation in 1930 the freight neared Stevenson, less than half the way to Huntsville, Victoria testified that the 12 Negroes climbed into the gondola in which the two girls were riding with the seven white youths, walking over the top of a box car in front and jumping into the gondola. Ruby said in a personal interview later that she did not know how many colored boys were in the crowd. She said she was too frightened to count them. The Negroes gave the number of their gang as 15. Victoria maintained emphatically that there were 12. According to Victoria's testimony, a Negro identified at the trial as Charlie Weems came first waving a pistol, followed by the others in the crowd. A mile or two past Stevenson, Victoria said that the Negroes began fighting with the white boys, shouting "unload, you white sons-of-bitches" and forcing the white boys to jump from the freight which was moving at a fast rate of speed. One of the white boys, Orvil Gilley, who said he was afraid to jump for fear he would be killed, was allowed by the Negroes to remain. One of the Negroes testified that he...
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...The trial of the Scottsboro boys has been one of the most infamous legal injustices in American History. Nine black teenage boys were convicted of a crime that they never committed. Two white women accused the boys of an alleged gang rape on a Southern Railroad freight run. It all began on March 25, 1931 when a fight between white youths and a larger group of black youths broke out on the train. Eighteen year old, Haywood Patterson was hanging on the side of the train when a young white boy stepped on his hand while walking across the top of a tank car. Haywood had a few friends of his on the train. A stone-throwing fight erupted between a group of white youths and a larger group of black youth. Eventually, the blacks were able to force all...
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...The nine young African Americans were recognized as the “Scottsboro boys” They were accused of raped of two white women on a train toward Alabama in 1931. The white jury convicted eight of them. All except one, the youngest at 12 years old, and were sentenced to death. The story of the Scottsboro Boys is important not only in civil rights history, but also in the evolution of constitutional law, for it was this case that led to a more wide-reaching, interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection under the law" and of "due process of law." The case also expanded the scope of the Sixth Amendment's assurance of a defendant's right to "have the assistance of counsel." Specifically, the case ultimately resulted in...
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...influences from Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws are a racial caste system. Jim Crow are a bunch of harsh against Blacks laws (Pilgrim). The Whites did these actions because they disliked any benefit made Blacks including economic and political (Pilgrim). If the Blacks are to disobey then the punishments could be a lynching (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws are seen in To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the laws that you could see was “ Never assert or even intimate that...
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...a Mockingbird on one of these trials. The trial that was taking place during this novel was called the Scottsboro boys trial. Once again black men were being accused of a crime but they did not commit. -The Scottsboro boys trial •What Happened On March 25, 1931 in Scottsboro, Alabama a group of nine black teenagers entered onto a train. Their names were Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Hayward Patterson, Eugene Williams, and Andrew and Leroy Wright .When a group of white teenagers saw one of the boys,...
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...Colin O’Leary TKM Paper Has one ever heard about the Scottsboro trial? Has one ever witnessed racism in there life? Harper Lee’s novel was based on true events in our American history past. These are connections to Jim Crow, mob mentality, and issues of racism in that time period. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird one of their historic reference was the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were laws that made whites superior to the blacks, and were also anti-black laws. The whites thought this was needed because they said lynching was distasteful but was necessary. They thought this also because it was necessary to the criminal justice system because blacks were prone to violence (Pilgrim 5). The whites thought it was needed but about one-third...
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...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...
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...Robinson in the novel? | | E3 | In a time in which racism and segregation were substantial two lawyers each very determined to help and stand by their clients and defend them in law to the best of their abilities in the face of danger. Both the Scottsboro boy Trials and the Tom Robinson trial in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” were very similar and “To kill a Mockingbird” definitely seemed as if it were influenced by the Scottsboro boy’s trial. | Samuel Leibowits was the lawyer who defended Charles Weems, Andy Wright, Olen Montgomery, Roy Wright, Willie Robertson, Eugene Williams, Ozzie Powell, Clarence Norris and Haywood Patterson also known as the Scottsboro Boys. What happen to them was that they were on a train and they were accused of rape by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. All nine men were convicted soon after for rape. Atticus Finch defended Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" the story revolves around the trial and the life of Finch and his family before, during and after the trial of Tom Robinson. Atticus faced loads of criticism for defending a black man. The similarities that are shared between the trials of the Scottsboro Boys and that of Tom Robinson in "To Kill a Mockingbird" are many. First of all they both take place in a racist and segregated state in the south; Alabama. Both Trials are defended by white lawyers who face much criticism and threats from racist people. In both...
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...Gurpreet Saini Period 4 Scottsboro Boys Trials The ideology behind the American legal system is you are innocent until proven guilty. There have been many cases in history where this is not the case. One of the most well-known and pointless cases of 20th century America is the Scottsboro boys Trials. In 1932 nine African American boys ranging from the ages of 13-20 hopped onto a train headed to Memphis. They were pulled off and arrested after two white girls, Ruby bates and Victoria Price accused them rape. One of these two girls happened to have been a prostitute. The reasons why the Scottsboro boys were given an unfair trial were because they were black men living in the racist and segregated south. The evidence that was presented during the trials was insufficient and not all evidence was presented. The jury consisted of all white folks who were racist. All the boys on the Scottsboro trial were black living in a country that largely discriminated to collared people. The 1930’s American south was the capital of segregation. This segregation put black people at a disadvantage to white folks. When they were in prison, the boys were being tormented and abused by the guards. Many cases similar to the Scottsboro still occur in the U.S due to racism. Since the boys were black they were easily to be accused for the rape of the two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Having to live in a society that historically discriminated against blacks, the race of those convicted...
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...the Scottsboro Trials, nine young innocent boys were accused of a crime they never once committed and were dragged through many unfair trials. All boys were african american and their names were Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Willie Robertson, Ozie Powell, Eugene Williams, Charlie Weems, Roy Wright, Haywood Patterson. The boys ages ranged from 19-13 years old. In all, 5 trials were held for this case. The boys experienced racism, discrimination and segregation throughout this part of their life. The night when the boys were accused of raping two girls was a rough night for them. They were on a train late at night and ¨What they see are dozens of white men with rifles and pistols-an armed posse-rushing in to grab Haywood Patterson,...
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...the Deep South. Looking at her only novel, it can be concluded that the similarities within it and reality are no coincidence. The Historical events that occurred during Harper Lee’s lifetime clearly influenced her writing of To Kill a Mockingbird as elements of the Scottsboro Boys Trials are undoubtedly evident in the trial of Tom Robinson, the Jim Crow Laws are unjustly in effect towards the African-American population of Maycomb, Alabama, and the deleterious economic hardships faced after the Great Depression are present in the citizens of the town throughout the novel. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman, and the lawyer defending him. This fictional trial is in fact an almost exact recreation of a trial that Harper Lee lived through: The Scottsboro Boy Trials of 1931. Both the fictional and real trials of Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys share several similarities, two of which are the race and crime of the defendant and the all racist white jury. The Scottsboro Boys were a group of “nine African American youths” who were “quickly sentenced to death for the crime of rape of two young white women” (“Scottsboro Boys Case”). Tom Robinson, a black male, was also accused of raping a young white woman. After careful interrogation, the defense presented strong evidence in both cases that suggested the defendants...
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...The Scottsboro Trials is a case that lasted from 1931-1937. The case was about 9 black men (ages ranged from 12-19) who were accused of raping two women after a fight on a train to Tennessee. The case caused a huge outbreak across the nation. Riots and protests for the men accused. The case went to several judges, several trials, several lawyers and attorneys, and organizations got involved in the case. It sparked a bunch of racism and inequality in the Alabama Court systems and changed the way they use their jury’s, even to this day. The accusations of : Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charlie Weems, Eugene Williams, and brothers Andy and Roy Wright On March 24. 1931, 9 black men were accused of raping two women, Ruby Bates and...
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...During the 1930’s most of America’s attention was directed to a well-known case taking place in Scottsboro, Alabama. The Scottsboro trials was a set of trials concerning an alleged rape. The case began on March 25, 1931 when two white, working class women stumbled off of the train claiming they had been raped by nine black men. The case went to court four times, spanning for seven years, and eighty-two years until all nine boys were pardon for the charges of rape. “The case had never presented as many tri…..” The Scottsboro trials greatly proved how partial the American government and justice system was, particularly in the south. After the civil war African Americans were free, but that did not mean they were equal. In the Constitution “All...
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