AP+P3+The+Scottsboro+Trials

Cultural-Chris Bohlman The Scottsboro Boys held massive cultural implications for the segregated United States of America in the 1930s. The Alabama trial and the subsequent Supreme Court appeal held cultural sway because the former was marred by the racism in the South; the latter was defined by the growing acceptance of colored people in the North. The Scottsboro boys were accused of raping two white women, and their one day trials and convictions caught the attention of organizations such as the NAACP (Scottsboro Timeline). Their lawyers fought for them because of the cultural stigma of being black playing a factor in deciding the case in a rapid amount of time. In Powell v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied the “right to counsel”, which was illegal under the 14 th Amendment (Powell v. Alabama). Culturally, the Scottsboro Boys were important because they demonstrated how rampant with racism the legal system in Alabama (and to a certain extent, the South) was. The protests and defenses of both sides of the case revolved around accusations that were later proved false, but still held sway within the court. In the end, racist culture played a large part in this case, and it took almost 30 years afterwards to ease the current of racism in the South of the United States, with the reversal of the convictions of the Scottsboro boys being an exception to this.

"Scottsboro Timeline." //Arizona Public Media//. PBS Online, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. "Powell v. Alabama." //Legal Information Institute//. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.

Historical-Lauren Letarte The Scottsboro Trials are known to be a historical landmark in American civil rights. WNYC History Notes explains that, "Knowledge of southern injustice came in part from fear of it; and fear came from the knowledge that the color of your skin made you a suspect--a suspect that looked just like the prime suspect" (Lanset). Furthermore, there were two Supreme Court Rulings over the nine young black men who were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train. One ruling had prohibited the exclusion or jurors based off of race and the other ruling confirmed that a defendant had the right to effective counsel "under due process". In the United States during the 1930s, cases such as black men being accused of raping white women were nearly automatically ruled as a death sentence for blacks. However, the Scottsboro Trials made history changing that conclusion and United States court systems. Although most the nine black men died during that decade, they were not sentenced to death on the spot, which was almost unheard of at the time, and even had many supporters from the North during their trials. The support and change to court systems had a major impact on American society during the 1930s and overall marked an increase in American justice.

Linder, Douglas O. "Scottsboro Boys." //Scottboro Boys.// UMKC, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015. Lanset, Andy. “Scottsboro: A Civil Rights Milestone.” //WYNC History Notes//. NYPR Archives & Preservation, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.

Audience-Michael Baldwin The audience of the Scottsboro Trials was the people of the people of Huntsville, politicians from anywhere in D.C., NAACP, and the Communist Party. Each group had their own agenda, “The ILD quieted skeptics who saw the organization caring more about the benefits it could derive from the case than the Boys’ welfare by asking Samuel Leibowitz to serve as the lead defense attorney” (Linder). The people of Alabama wanted the Scottsboro Boys to be punished for what they were accused of, while other groups wanted their release because they did not think that they did rape the girls. Equality groups especially wanted this because they were being treated unfairly, but these groups ran into the issue of supporting alleged rapists. This made it difficult for people to fully support the boys. However it had enough press for large groups to support them. Politicians, citizens, and equality activists all had their own thoughts about this trial. Everyone was paying attention to this trial.

Linder, Douglas O. "Scottboro Boys." //Scottboro Boys//. UMKC, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015. "The Scottsboro Case." //PBS.// PBS, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.

Aim-Alex Colpo The aim of the Scottsboro Trials was to incarcerate black youths who were accused of raping a white woman on a train. However, a hidden aim was also to show that the whites word was valued much more than the blacks word, and the black man was insignificant in a white mans world. The word of one white woman was valued much more than the words of nine white teenagers. Even the evidence was pointing to the fact that the boys had not raped the woman, however the witnesses painted a different picture, and caused for most of the boys to be considered guilty (Cornell). With this, there is no sort of justice for these boys, and in fact they are let down by the justice system. There is also another reason that the boys were proven innocent, “Ruby Bates, at Huntsville, Alabama, writes a letter to a boy friend denying that the Negro youths attacked her, the police secured the note” (Boyle). Even though the people were innocent from the attacks, they were savagely persecuted and blamed for a crime without evidence. This aim showed that blacks were showed less care and less fairness through the justice system to blacks than the whites.

"Powell v. Alabama." //Legal Information Institute.// Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015. “A Scottsboro Chronology” Boyle. Illinois University n.d. Web 02 Feb 2015