Scottsboro Trials

In the 1930’s segregation was strongly enforced and whites were superior to blacks. It didn’t matter whether you were poor or rich, if you were white you had more respect and trust than any black person did. So when white girls accuse blacks of raping them, something big is about to happen. Trials that were meant to only take a few days, turned into months, and soon it became years. Before people knew it, something as simple as rape trials was altering the countries future. The Scottsboro Trials were conducted in a way that gave us long-lasting effects.

Hoboes hitched rides on freight trains and did as they pleased during the 1930’s (Carter 3). When the train pulled away from the station at Stevenson the station master was approached by a group of pale hoboes. The only white guy in the group was grasping the back of his head which appeared to be oozing with blood. The group claimed there had been a fight and the group of Negros had thrown them out of the train (Carter 4). When the station master got word out to Jackson County the sheriff gave the county deputy authority to deputize any man he could find. When the freight train came to a halt at the Jackson county station it took all but ten minutes to search it. When the investigation was complete their findings consisted of nine colored Negro boys and two white women who were disguised as boys (Carter 5). When questioned, the boys claimed to have never seen each other before. After the deputy was done with the interrogation they were tied together in a line with a plow line. The nine boys were telling each other the outcome of this would be good. Ruby Bates told the deputy that the nine Negro boys raped her and her girlfriend Victoria Price (Carter 6). When the nine Negro...

... middle of paper ...

...erybody’s right. When it comes to our criminal justice system, we are more knowledgeable about our rights and how they should be conducted (“Right Due To Process” 112).

These trials took place almost 81 years ago. At the time of this event the world was different. Racism was a big part of how our country worked, and blacks really had no rights. It took seven years for the Scottsboro trials to begin and find an end. Little did the community know that during the trials (1930-1937) they were changing the way we see things today. People still recall the events of the trials and even though we don’t realize it, we live with the effects of the trials everyday. Blacks are now considered apart of our community and they all have the same rights as we do. If the Scottsboro Trials had been conducted any differently, blacks might not have all the same privileges as whites.