Scottsboro Boys Fair Trial

When a group of nine unemployed African American men were traveling on the same train in search of jobs, they did not know that their lives would be changed forever. These young men, widely known as the “Scottsboro Boys”, left the train falsely accused of raping two white women. This tragic case became a significant symbol in American history, and an accurate representation of American injustice during the time period of the Great Depression. Although there was very weak evidence that supported a guilty verdict, the Scottsboro Boys were not given a fair trial. Due to societal circumstances at the time, fair trials between African Americans and whites in the United States were almost unheard of. Beginning in 1931, the first trial involving the Scottsboro Boys would become a vital part of a long string of events that would eventually cause national uproar. …show more content…
The group of white men were eventually kicked off the train in Alabama, and they reported to the local sheriff “what they described as an assault by a gang of blacks” (Linder). Shortly after, the sheriff sent a group of armed men to stop the train at Paint Rock, Alabama. Two white women, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, told one of the armed men that they had been gang raped by the African Americans. At the time, an African American man raping a white woman was an extremely severe offense. The nine black men were immediately captured, arrested, and sent to a jail in Scottsboro, Alabama. This accusation caused so much chaos; hundreds of men gathered around the jail for a lynching that night. It was clear that people were already rooting against the Scottsboro Boys, and many assumed they were guilty before the trial had even