The Scottsboro Boys's Case Of The American Communist Party

In what initially began as a case of whites versus blacks, the Scottsboro trial soon escalated into a trial of capitalists versus communists and a repeat of the common battles between Jews and Gentiles and North battling South. The Scottsboro boys morphed into pawns for battles where the outcome had little to do with them. Organizations fought over the fame of defending the unjustly accused nine Scottsboro boys. Through much perseverance, the American Communist Party received complete compliance from all of the nine defendants. Unfortunately, the Scottsboro boys had no idea of the legal and social battle they had become involved in and how they would be utilized as rallying cries for political agendas. In an effort to achieve and support political …show more content…
The Party did not exhibit genuine concern for the Scottsboro defendants by exploiting their loved ones. Most of the families were shocked and aghast that white men asked them to do something, instead of ordering them around (57). Approximately all mothers would desperately search for any means that could allow their sons to live. Franticly attempting to save their sons and shocked at new, positive attention from whites, the families of the Scottsboro boys transformed into collateral for communist ideologies. The American Communist Party embraced the families’ publicity and urged them to travel on international, grueling trips. The Party prepared speeches that spewed communist propaganda for presumably, uneducated women to speak (144). Women that just wanted to save their sons, later traveled across the globe to support the communist cause. The American Communist Party’s actions concerning the families indicate apathy for the defendants themselves and empathy for communist …show more content…
After the Party had halfway “accomplished” their goal with the release of four of the Scottsboro defendants, the newly freed Scottsboro boys performed on Broadway, receiving no education or permanent job assistance (PBS). Once the grandeur faded from the Scottsboro case and the defendants forgotten, the Broadway show lost popularity and the Scottsboro defendants looked for work. Untrained for a life outside of prison and vaudeville, the defendants pleaded to The American Communist Party for help; however, the defendants did not receive any assistance from the Party they once represented (399). The Communists martyrized the Scottsboro boys for the sake of the communist cause, but when all public attention faded, the party quickly sought out other alternatives, leaving the defendants