The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys
The world is filled with webs that are so big, one has to struggle really hard to get out of them. Others may not get out from such massive, detailed and meticulous webs. Some may get out but not have the strength to make it to the other side. Many could say that one of their biggest fears is to be accused of a crime that they did not commit. In the true story of the Scottsboro Boys, these young African American men were living a worst fear and fighting for their lives. The trials of the Scottsboro boys is a story with deep roots in the tainted history of the south’s racial discrepancies. The story’s timeline takes you on a train ride with dark tunnels, hopelessness, despair with just a small taste of justice.
The story is set in Alabama, right in the deep south. In the early 1930s, racial discrimination was in full effect with the most concentration in the south. This was also the time around the great depression and many people were living in utter and complete poverty, especially in Alabama. Poverty stricken Americans migrated with the hopes of finding work in other cities. It was common during their migration to jump on a train while traveling to other cities.
One ride, a group of nine African American boys were on top a train and fell into some trouble while on board. The trouble started when a group of white men demanded that the black men unload the train. According to Hayward Patterson, the white men wanted them off the train, the two groups began to fight and the nine African Americans trumped the fight and stayed on the train. (Anken, 2000). The trains next stop was Paint Rock, Alabama. Many people were waiting to ambush the nine African American boys, but instead were confronted with two white young women claimed the nine boys raped them. It wasn’t soon after that the nine boys were taken into custody, held in prison; so began their long trials that took at the very least nine years for any sight of freedom.
Not that life was any good for many Alabamians during the time when the state reached it’s lowest economic point, but this incident created a blockade to these nine boys and their freedom. There was so much racial tension that the lives of African Americans in the south seemed bleak. This trial stood the test and speaks its message to this day that no matter how much racial tension is going on in one area, there is always, at the very least, a sliver representing the pursuit of justice and equality.
News on this story took a global spread. People from around the world voiced their opinion on how the trials for the Scottsboro boys were nothing less than racially based. The boys found themselves in a tangled mess of legal due process flaws and lies. The mistakes infested the process and procedure of this case and only left the boys sunk into an institutionalized life. Nine young boys, stuck in the country’s most brutal prison, felt nothing but fear and despair, knowing that just by the color of their skin, no one would believe that they did not commit this crime.
The boys were even encouraged by their first lawyer to plead guilty and later the entire trial was thrown out after all nine boys were convicted of rape. It wasn’t until the second trial that a trail of hope blazed over the case for which they finally had a renowned attorney from New York defend them. It wasn’t until six years later that four of the defendants were released and freed. It took another six more years to release the others. All were released except one.
Unfortunately, the post institution lives of many of the boys were only riddled with more crimes and defeat. They were tainted by hatred and racism, stuck in a prison of brutality and these dark experiences shaped their gloomy future. There was one of the nine boys; however, that made a good life for himself. Clarence Norris went on to lead a life of hard work and family. He desired to be pardoned by the state of Alabama. “He wanted the world to know that he was an innocent man”, said by Kwando Kinshasa. (Anker, 2000). He was pardoned by the state of Alabama in October of 1976.
This story was nothing short from a tragedy. The fact that racism plays such a significant factor in the lives of man is truly the saddest part of all. The United States of America was founded on that people are innocent until proven guilty and these boys were assumed guilty from the very beginning, without proper due process of law almost every step of the way, and just because the color of their skin.
Not only was racism a large blockage but it’s also the corruption of the court system that makes their swim to freedom upstream. Corruption in justices continues to this day and while many public officers point their fingers to gavel guilty for committing crimes, they should slam the gavel down on themselves for all the crimes being committed in America’s justice system. Court filings, hearings, trials and appeals take time and money and when the system doesn’t work the right way the first time, it brings despair to the innocent waiting for a break in their case. The nine boys of Scottsboro were forever changed by this high profiled six to twelve year period of their life. This was significantly detrimental to the point that in ruined many of their lives. No one should have to go through all the pain that the Scottsboro boys did but it is unfortunate that corruption, though not always racially toned, still occurs in our courts systems to this day.
References
Goodman, B. and Boyle K. (Writer) & Anker, Daniel (Director). The Scottsboro Boys Trials (Full Movie) 1931 to 1937. (2000). PBS. Retrieved April 12, 2016, from https:// www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB129246C57097038
