The Superiority of Whites over Blacks
Back in the early 1930s in Southern Alabama everything was seen as black and white. The color white was definitely superior to the black color. Black people were highly motivated to work and produce for their future and families, but there was this racism; discrimination; and segregation against colored people that impeded their success. All of this factors that destroyed the lives of 9 young black teenagers. Only southerner whites had the opportunity to have better jobs such as being a police officer; the respect from their society; and most importantly the power to do whatever they pleased, including mistreating this minority group. Just because of their color of skin, they even had to be distant with white females. Wherever they were seen, they were discriminated or rejected from the whites. Basically, where there were whites, can’t be blacks because they were always insulted or told to go away. This is how the whole thing with the Scottsboro boys begin. The Scottsboro Boys was totally an American tragedy. …show more content…
This case started in Alabama, but it rapidly became a national concern. These 9 young black males were accused of raping two young white females, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. At that time accusing a black person of rape or even assault was a huge deal. It is the same as today, but in terms of the crime itself it calls people’s attention, not so much the person’s skin color. It was so much easier to believe that they did committed this severe crime due to the social context they were put up into. Southerner whites truly believe that black people were not a model of productive members of society, instead they were treated as they were not meaningful. Even though, they were constantly rejected by other people, what they were in search of before this horrible incident happened shows who they really were. Behind all the accusations, these 9 boys were in a journey of how to better themselves. They were looking where to work in order for them to make some money not just for themselves, but for their families too. Because they all lived in poverty, the only possible resource that they found to travel was to take train; a ride that changed their lives forever. They were travelling with other people, which it happened to be whites. Obviously the whites didn’t want them in there, so this is when they started to tell them to get out of their train. At that time, because society had already this believe that whites were superior and kind of the only acceptable race, this white group felt with the authority of telling them to get out of the train. Because these 9 boys knew that their purpose of getting into that train was to find a job, they obviously fought back and tried to defend themselves. This is when the train is stopped by the posse in Paint Rock, Alabama. Just the group of blacks got arrested for assault, and “rape charges [were] added, following accusations from two white women who [had] also come off the train, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. The accused [were] taken to Scottsboro, Alabama, the Jackson County seat” (……). This two white women obviously lied about these accusations. They had never raped these two women, but the fact that they were black riding in a train with only whites made it possible to believe it was true what Victoria and Ruby accused them of. The ironic thing is that they were treated as a group who committed a horrendous crime, but they didn’t even know each other, except of the two brothers. Their age ranged between 13 to 19 years old. Eight of them were facing the death penalty, and just one, the 13 year old was voted to face life in prison. The fact that the jurors were only white influenced a lot in the Scottsboro boys’ case. Black people were not allowed to serve as jurors, not just in this particular case, but in any case. It was so legally and socially unfair to have this trial with only white jurors. It was obvious that this case
Back in the early 1930s in Southern Alabama everything was seen as black and white. The color white was definitely superior to the black color. Black people were highly motivated to work and produce for their future and families, but there was this racism; discrimination; and segregation against colored people that impeded their success. All of this factors that destroyed the lives of 9 young black teenagers. Only southerner whites had the opportunity to have better jobs such as being a police officer; the respect from their society; and most importantly the power to do whatever they pleased, including mistreating this minority group. Just because of their color of skin, they even had to be distant with white females. Wherever they were seen, they were discriminated or rejected from the whites. Basically, where there were whites, can’t be blacks because they were always insulted or told to go away. This is how the whole thing with the Scottsboro boys begin. The Scottsboro Boys was totally an American tragedy. …show more content…
This case started in Alabama, but it rapidly became a national concern. These 9 young black males were accused of raping two young white females, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. At that time accusing a black person of rape or even assault was a huge deal. It is the same as today, but in terms of the crime itself it calls people’s attention, not so much the person’s skin color. It was so much easier to believe that they did committed this severe crime due to the social context they were put up into. Southerner whites truly believe that black people were not a model of productive members of society, instead they were treated as they were not meaningful. Even though, they were constantly rejected by other people, what they were in search of before this horrible incident happened shows who they really were. Behind all the accusations, these 9 boys were in a journey of how to better themselves. They were looking where to work in order for them to make some money not just for themselves, but for their families too. Because they all lived in poverty, the only possible resource that they found to travel was to take train; a ride that changed their lives forever. They were travelling with other people, which it happened to be whites. Obviously the whites didn’t want them in there, so this is when they started to tell them to get out of their train. At that time, because society had already this believe that whites were superior and kind of the only acceptable race, this white group felt with the authority of telling them to get out of the train. Because these 9 boys knew that their purpose of getting into that train was to find a job, they obviously fought back and tried to defend themselves. This is when the train is stopped by the posse in Paint Rock, Alabama. Just the group of blacks got arrested for assault, and “rape charges [were] added, following accusations from two white women who [had] also come off the train, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. The accused [were] taken to Scottsboro, Alabama, the Jackson County seat” (……). This two white women obviously lied about these accusations. They had never raped these two women, but the fact that they were black riding in a train with only whites made it possible to believe it was true what Victoria and Ruby accused them of. The ironic thing is that they were treated as a group who committed a horrendous crime, but they didn’t even know each other, except of the two brothers. Their age ranged between 13 to 19 years old. Eight of them were facing the death penalty, and just one, the 13 year old was voted to face life in prison. The fact that the jurors were only white influenced a lot in the Scottsboro boys’ case. Black people were not allowed to serve as jurors, not just in this particular case, but in any case. It was so legally and socially unfair to have this trial with only white jurors. It was obvious that this case