African-American Teenagers: The Scottsboro Trial

450 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in the justice system essay

On March 25 1931 nine African American teenagers were caught riding a train illegally at Scottsboro, Alabama they would have been sent away with a minor charge but got in to a fight with white teenagers, they successfully scared them off but one still remained. After the train started picking to a dangers level the one left was hanged out of the train. The other parts of the gage went to the local police station to report them. But after closer examination the deputies found 2 white women Ruby Bates and Victoria Price aboard. None of them would answer any questions Do to the pressure on them they told police they have been raped by 6 of the nine. The trial for the boys began 12 days after the arrest. They described the scene of the court room

Show More
Related

  • The Elaine Race Massacre Case Report

    2397 Words  | 5 Pages

    The class and regional tension separated African-American leaders of that period. A black prosecutor named Scipio Africanis Jones, tried to set free the twelve black men’s who were imprisoned. After the days of the massacres, a self-proclaimed group of foremost white citizens allotted a report. The committee demanded that Robert Hill, the union organizer, was an external protestor who had deceived native blacks into organizing an insurgency. The Negros were told to stay out of Elaine, by the wicked white men and deceitful leaders of their own race who were abusing them for their personal achievements. The black farmers that were muddled in the original firing had been consulting to work out the facts that involved the massacre of white ranchers and the eliminating the white’s possessions. Thus, the firing and the fatal riots that trailed were esteemed involvements that saved the lives of numerous white citizens, although at the outlay of many black

    Read More

  • Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    ‘Fire in a canebrake’ is quite a scorcher by Laura Wexler and which focuses on the last mass lynching which occurred in the American Deep South, the one in the heartland of rural Georgia, precisely Walton County, Georgia on 25th July, 1946, less than a year after the Second World War. Wexler narrates the story of the four black sharecroppers who met their end ‘at the hand of person’s unknown’ when an undisclosed number of white men simply shot the blacks to death. The author concentrates on the way the evidence was collected in those eerie post war times and how the FBI was actually involved in the case, but how nothing came of their extensive investigations.

    Read More

  • It Was Like All Of Us Had Been Raped Summary

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “ ‘It Was Like All of Us Had Been Raped’: Sexual Violence, Community Mobilization, and the African American Freedom Struggle” by Danielle L. McGuire, McGuire begins her piece with a haunting tale of the rape of Betty Jean Owens, that really illustrates the severity of racial brutality in the 1950s. She depicts a long history of african-american women who refuse to remain silent, even in the face of adversity, and even death, and who've left behind a testimony of the many wrong-doings that have been done to them. Their will to fight against the psychological and physical intimidation that expresses male domination and white supremacy is extremely admirable. The mobilization of the community, and the rightful conviction of the 4 white men most definitely challenged ideologies of racial inequality and sexual domination, and inspired a revolution in societal

    Read More

  • Book Review Of Laura Wexler's Fire In A Canebrake

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    Four black sharecroppers (Roger Malcom, Dorothy Malcom, George Dorsey and Mae Murray Dorsey) are brutally murdered by a group of white people. The murders attracted national attention, but the community was not willing to get involved. The community was not fazed by these brutal murders but, by the fact that this incident got national attention. They were even more astounded that the rest of the nation even cared. In this book Laura Wexler shows just how deep racism goes. After reading the book I discovered that Fire in a Canebrake has three major themes involving racism. The first is that racism obstructs progression. The second is history repeats itself. The last theme is that racism can obscure the truth. This lynching, in particular, marks a turning point in the history of race relations and the governments’ involvement in civil rights. In the end this case still remains unsolved. No concept of the

    Read More

  • Mamie Till Research Paper

    1251 Words  | 3 Pages

    An African American women name Mamie till had her only child murder for just whistling at a white woman. Her only child name Emmett Louis till was born in 1941 in July twenty five in Chicago cook county hospital. Mamie till was married to a men name Louis till. They were only eighteen years old when they got marry. When Emmett till was about one year old when his parents separated. Emmett till never knew his father. His father was a private soldier in the United States army during World War two. Three days later Mamie received a letter saying that Louis till had been executed for “willful misconduct”. Mamie till was given Louis ring with his initial L.T. As a single mother Mamie work for hours for the air force as a clerk. Since Mamie worked more than twelve hours Emmett till will have done the cooking, cleaning, and even the laundry. Emmett till was a funny, responsible, and a high spirited child. Emmett till attend at an all-black school called McCosh. His mother will always tell Emmett till to take care of himself because of his race. One day Emmett till great uncle Moses Wright had come from all the way from Mississippi to visit his family from Chicago. When his great uncle had to go he was planning on taking Emmett tills cousins with him. Later on Emmett till found out that his great uncle...

    Read More

  • African American History in A Red Record

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Slavery is one of America’s biggest regrets. Treating a human with the same beating heart as a low, worthless piece of trash only because of skin color is a fact that will forever remain in our country’s history. Those marked as slaves were sold, tortured, demoralized, raped and killed. After the Emancipation in which slavery was illegalized, many would think that the horrors were over and that America as a whole started a new leaf. Unfortunately, the man of the South, refusing to move forward tried to keep the colored man down as best they could. Their premeditated plans and actions to find an excuse to continue torturing and killing the Negro man continued for years, which are documented in “A Red Record”. This story captures the grueling events African Americans were put through and the unfairness of the times. By capturing and sharing this history it will make sure these mistakes can never be repeated again .

    Read More

  • Comparing The Rodney King Trial And The Play Twelve Angry Men

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was April 29th, 1992, and “Dawn was just filtering over Los Angeles and Courtroom 890 was silent as a tomb”(Mathews 1). The Rodney King trial had taken a little over two months and the verdict had the potential to change the history of the United States indefinitely. In both the Rodney King Beating Trial and the play Twelve Angry Men, racism played a major part in the original verdict. Rodney King was definitely in the wrong on the night of the beating, but the beating he got was not necessary. The trial was moved to a community with little diversity, therefore, the police officers were acquitted. The outcome of this trial would have turned out differently if the jury had been more diverse

    Read More

  • Lynching and Women: Ida B. Wells

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emancipated blacks, after the Civil War, continued to live in fear of lynching, a practice of vigilantism that was often based on false accusations. Lynching was not only a way for southern white men to exert racist “justice,” it was also a means of keeping women, white and black, under the control of a violent white male ideology. In response to the injustices of lynching, the anti-lynching movement was established—a campaign in which women played a key role. Ida B. Wells, a black teacher and journalist was at the forefront and early development of this movement. In 1892 Wells was one of the first news reporters to bring the truths of lynching to proper media attention. Her first articles appeared in The Free Speech and Headlight, a Memphis newspaper that she co-edited. She urged the black townspeople of Memphis to move west and to resist the coercive violence of lynching. [1] Her early articles were collected in Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases, a widely distributed pamphlet that exposed the innocence of many victims of lynching and attacked the leaders of white southern communities for allowing such atrocities. [2] In 1895 Wells published a larger investigative report, A Red Record, which exposed how false or contrived accusations of rape accompanied less than one third of the cases documented around 1892. [3] The statistics and literature of A Red Record denounced the dominant white male ideology behind lynching – the thought that white womanhood was in need of protection against black men. Wells challenged this notion as a concealed racist agenda that functioned to keep white men in power over blacks as well as white women. Jacqueline Jones Royster documents the...

    Read More

  • Tulsa Race Riots

    1683 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The trial was brought to a speedy conclusion. Not only did Judge Evans find the twelve guilty, fine them $100 each, and committed them to jail, but five people in the courtroom who had served as witnesses for the defense arrested. […] The police were then instructed to transfer the seventeen prisoners that night to the county jail”(30).

    Read More

  • The Scottsboro Boys

    1829 Words  | 4 Pages

    The unfair trials that the Scottsboro boys received are the results of the institutionalized racism in the South. This case reveals the injustice that prevailed in the American South. Background information on the Accusation The 1930’s were a decade plagued by the colossus economic downturn known as the Great Depression. With unemployment levels surpassing 20%, people did anything to earn money.

    Read More

  • Emmett Till Violating Racial Codes

    381 Words  | 1 Pages

    In August, 1955, an african american boy, Emmett Till, who was 14 from Chicago had just arrived in Money, Mississippi to visit family. He went to the grocery store and while he was in there a white women was working behind the counter and Emmett Till whistled and was making flirtatious things. While he was doing this he didn't realize he was violating racial codes. Three days later, the woman's husband- Roy Bryant- and his half brother - J.W Milam- had drug Till from his ucleś house in the middle of the night. At first they were just repeatedly beating him, then ended up shooting him and killing him. After killing Emmett the men threw his body in a river called Tallahatchie which is also located in Mississippi. Roy Bryant and J.W Milam came

    Read More

  • Essay On The Scottsboro Trials

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to “The Scottsboro Boys, Trial and Defense Campaign (1931-1937)”, the Scottsboro Boys’ Trials were a direct result of the supposed rape of two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. Nine young black men were reported to have committed this crime. This event allegedly occurred on March 25, 1931 on a freight train heading towards Scottsboro, Alabama. Aboard the train, an unexpected fight arose between some blacks, and “white hobos” (“The Scottsboro Boys, Trial and Defense Campaign (1931-1937)”). “The

    Read More

  • Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

    422 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Scottsboro trial of 12 young African American boys over the alleged rape of rape of 2 white girls was completely unjust, because of lies, ignored the facts, and racism. For example, the first thing to remember is that the boys were put on trial for “raping” two white girls on a train in Tennessee. The girls claimed that the boys made 6 of the 7 seven white boys on the train jump off, then the boys assaulted the women. First of all, during the trial, Victoria Price gave a testimony that crucified the boy, and yet getting sympathy from the jury. Her testimony was not the same as the other girl’s, Ruth Bates. When this happened no one went back to check if any of their stories were true. This was unjust, because in normal cases, without racism, there

    Read More

  • Scottsboro Boys Trial Essay

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Scottsboro Boys saga was a travesty at the time and remains an indelible mark on America’s social, cultural and judicial history. Their plight became a symbol of the oppression faced by black Americans in an America where white supremacy reigned as an accepted fact of life. Now something of folkloric proportion, this example of pervading southern prejudice and gross injustice captures a moment in America’s law and order environment. The Scottsboro Boys trials to this day highlight the climate of enduring racism socially, culturally and embedded in the legal system. Equally, the case shows the uneven application of the law and to some extent, a changing law and order environment.

    Read More

  • The Struggle for Freedom Among African American Citizens

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    Diversity, we define this term today as one of our nation’s most dynamic characteristics in American history. The United States thrives through the means of diversity. However, diversity has not always been a positive component in America; in fact, it took many years for our nation to become accustomed to this broad variety of mixed cultures and social groups. One of the leading groups that were most commonly affected by this, were African American citizens, who were victimized because of their color and race. It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s during the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place yet, it is the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools. Integration in white schools played a major role in the battle for Civil Rights in the South, upon the coming of independence for all African American people in the United States after a series of tribulations and loss of hope.

    Read More

More about African-American Teenagers: The Scottsboro Trial

Open Document