Case Analysis: The Scottsboro Trial

Nine African American teenagers were riding the railroad in 1931 while looking for work when they were accused of raping two white women, who also were riding the railroad. They were quickly accused of rape and hulled off to jail. This was only beginning or the fight for freedom for these nine black teenagers and the freedom of all African Americans. On March 25, 1931, nine African American teenagers were riding the railroad in search of work since this was the time during the Great Depression. A group of white teenagers reported to a local sheriff that they had been attacked by a group of black teenagers. The train stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama and arrested the black Americans. Along with the nine African Americans, two white women accused the black Americans of rape. The first case was first heard in Scottsboro, Alabama, in three rushed trials, in which the defendants received poor legal representation. To fairly …show more content…
The CP brought in their legal arm, the International Labor Defense (ILD) to represent the nine. After two trials in which an all-white jury, fueled by a biased Alabama press, convicted the nine, the ILD and the CP began a national protest campaign to overturn the conviction, marked by numerous street marches, national and international speaking tours, and popular songs. Because of their principled leadership in the campaign, the CP gained much widespread respect among African Americans and civil rights activists. When they traveled to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate, the CP stopped at segregated restaurants to stage sit-ins against discrimination, helping to turn the campaign into a trial of the system of segregation and racism in America, presaging the sit-in tactics of the 1960s civil rights