Summary: The Scottsboro Trials

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After reading and viewing the pieces on the Scottsboro Trials and racism, I conclude that racism manifested itself frequently in Southern life, without the slightest cover or disguise, because at that point racism was a basic instinct for many people. One reason for racism becoming all too prominent in Southern society and culture was the seeming psychological benefits that it entailed (Routledge). The most basic of these is the heightening of one’s relative self esteem by putting others down. Others, in Southern society, had come to mean African Americans. Positive distinctiveness is another benefit; it basically is a group esteem of sorts. Again, when the groups are determined based on the color of a person’s skin, racism results. There are

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