Racism and Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

In March of 1931 nine young Negro boys were unjustly charged with raping a white woman. In the bestselling novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, published in 1960, a young black male faces a similar circumstance when he finds himself the defendant charged with a similar crime. Both cases were so harshly charged with racism neither the Scottsboro Boys nor Tom Robinson was safe from an unjustly fate. On March 25th, 1931, nine young black men were all riding on a freight train. These men consisted of “Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Andy and Roy Wright, Charlie Weems and Eugene Williams.” (Saxe, 870) While traveling on said train, through Northern Alabama, the boys found themselves in a small altercation with some white men. All of the boys were removed of f of the train and when the white men complained at the next train stop, all nine of the boys were apprehended. “Also on the train were two white women who accused the black youths of rape.” (Carter, 286) The nature of this accusation made it doubtful that any of the boys would receive an unbiased trial. “The defendants were divided into four groups based on the strength of the evidence against them.” (Baughman, NP) The trials of the nine men began a week and a half after their arrests. The setting of the trials was “so charged with racial hatred that their safety could only be assured by the presence of a small force of deputies” (Baughman, NP). But the local citizens of Scottsboro, Alabama had already come to the conclusion that the boys were guilty and should be treated as such. When the doctors were actually looking into the evidence of the case, they found that there was little to no evidence that either of the women had been rap... ... middle of paper ... ... racially targeted prejudice and they must learn how to keep their heads held high in the face of adversity. Works Cited Baughman, Judith S. “The Scottsboro Boys.” American Decades. Ed.Vol. 4: 1930 – 1939. Detroit: Gale, 2001. n. pag. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 Mar. 2011 Carter, Dan T. “Scottsboro Case.” Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 7. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 286. Gale Virtual Reference Library: Web. 25 Mar. 2011 Saxe, Robert Francis. “Scottsboro Case.” Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Ed. Robert S. McEluaine. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillian Reference USA, 2004. 870 – 872. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 Mar. 2011 Telgen, Diane. “ To Kill a Mockingbird.” Novels for Students. Ed. Vol. 2. Detroit. Gale, 1997. 285 – 307. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Mar. 2011