The Scottsboro Trials Essay Example For Students

The Scottsboro Trials Essay Imagine being a black teenager in the south amid the great depression. It was hard enough for whites to find jobs during this time; I cant even begin to fathom what it would be like being black seeking a job. Many blacks sought hoboing as a common pastime seeing it as an adventure to get them from one small job to another. And this is where the story of the Scottsboro Boys begins. Aboard a southern railroad car was a young black youth named Haywood Patterson. He clutched to the side of the car as it careened back and forth over the rusty tracks. Across the top of the car walked a young white man. Every time this man would walk past Patterson he would step on his fingers. Patterson finally said to the man, whenever you need to get through, tell me and I will move my hand. The young man believed that he did not have to ask someone to move their hands, especially a nigger. This outraged him and he began to shout obscenities and racial slurs at Patterson. Soon after, a stone throwing fig ht erupted between the white hobos and the black hobos that were riding on the train. All but one white youth was forced of the train by the rocks. This white youth named Orville Gilley was pulled back on. The train itself was picking up speed and Gilley could have gotten killed. A local stationmaster was told the attack by the white hobos that had been thrown off of the train. This stationmaster wired ahead to the next stationmaster to let him know of the situation. As the train slowed down and came to a stop in Paint Rock, Alabama, those that were accused of the future crime had no telling what they were going to be up against. Once in Paint Rock, 9 black youths were rounded up, tied together and taken to prison in Scottsboro Al. Here the boys were placed in a jail cell awaiting their charges. Little did they know an additional charge was going to be added that never even crossed their minds. While in Paint Rock 2 young women greeted the Posse that came to round up the men from th e train. One of these women (Victoria Price) told the posse that she had been raped by a gang of 12 blacks with pistols and knives (Linder, n.d.).They were escorted into the jail so that Victoria could point out her attackers. Here she claimed 6 of the 9 men had raped her. Thats when a guard replied If those six had Miss Price, it stands for reason the others had Miss Bates (Linder, n.d.).The accused turned out to be: Haywood Patterson, Andy Wright, Eugene Williams, Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson and Roy Wright. Let me tell you about the accusers in this case, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. Both women were from Huntsville, Al and daughters of widows. They grew up in the worst section of town living in shacks and associating with Negroes. Prior to Paint Rock, they had been working in Margaret Mill which produced cotton. The mill had shut down and they joined the other hobos seeking work (Goodman, 1994, pp20-21). When these ladies got older they were said to have fornicated with Negroes also. Now you have to understand that in the south there was a stigma between white woman and black men, when a white woman sleeps with a black man its considered rape (in the south). Now when these women were found on the train with Negroes, they did not want to be thought of as adulterers and tramps. Instead they claimed rape so that they could be thought of as southern women, poor but virtuous (Goodman, 1994, pp20-21). During their stay at the jail, the Scottsboro Boys attracted many people, and not always the nicest. One evening a lynch mob was hanging around the outside hoping that there could be a lynching. Their plans were foiled because Governor B.M. Miller ordered the National Guard to protect the suspects. On March 30th, 1931, a grand jury indicts all 9 boys. The boys were appointed council; however this was not an easy task. No one at the time wanted to represent them. A unpaid and unprepared Chattanooga real estate attorney named Stephen Ruddy agreed to take on the case as long as he had help. Up stepped local attorney Milo Moody. Moody was a 70year old man who hadnt tried a case in years. Their incompetence showed during the April 6th-9th trials before Judge A.E. Hawkins. Eight of the 9 boys are tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The case against the youngest boy, Roy Wright, whom at the time was 13, ended in a hung jury (PBS, 1999-2000). Beowulf: First Literary Superhero EssayThis was also the same year there was talk of a compromise. Knight met secretly with Liebowtiz to discuss the compromise. The cases were starting to drain Alabama both financially and politically. He offered to drop the prosecutions of 3, and give the others no more than 10 years in jail for either rape or assault. Both lawyers knew that they were never going to get a trial that didnt end without a conviction. Leibowitz agreed to the compromise but unfortunately never got to see it completed. Knight died suddenly in 1937. Keep in mind that 7 of the Scottsboro boys were still in jail awaiting their trials and it had been 6 years up to this point. The third trial of Clarence Norris began on Monday, July 12th, 1937. Judge Callahan rushed ahead and by Wednesday morning the jury had a death sentence. Attorney Watts had fallen ill during this time and left everything to Liebowitz. July 21st, Andy Wright is sentenced to 99 years. July 22nd, Charley Weems is sentenced to 75 years. July 24th Ozie Powell pleads guilty to assaulting a sheriff and is sentenced to 20 years. On this same day, Rape charges against the last four defendants: Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams and Roy Wright are dropped (PBS, 1999-2000). In 1938 there was a chance for the remaining five Scottsboro Boys to be pardoned by Governor Bibb Graves. Again this did not favor the boys. At the interview, Patterson was found carrying a knife, Ozie Powell refused to answer any questions presented to him by Graves, and Norris was in a battle with Patterson and threatened to kill him if released. Overall none of the boys admitted to the rape and knowledge of it, so no pardons came. Eventually through paroles or escape all of the Scottsboro Boys found their way out of Alabama (Linder, n.d.).Andy Wright was the last to leave Alabama in 1950. Some of the boys wrote books on their experiences. The case showed just how indifferent jurors were in the south during the 1930s, how two women could ruin the lives of 9 men and how politically minded everyone was involved in the trial. The Scottsboro Trials was the only case in history of the US that produced the most trials, convictions, reversals and retrials. In the end this case allowed jur ies to be open to blacks and helped to ease racial tensions in both the south and north. Reference ListGoodman, J. (1994). Stories of Scottsboro; The rape case that shocked 1930s America and revived the struggle for equality. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. Norris, C., Washington, C. D. (1979). The Last of the Scottsboro Boys an Autobiography. Toronto, Canada: Putnam Books. Linder, D.O. (n.d). The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys. Retrieved March 14, 2005, from http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/scottsboro/SB_acct.htmlPBS. (1999-2000). Scottsboro Timeline. Retrieved March 27, 2005, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/timeline/index.html