Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

Words: 1188
Pages: 5

On March 15, 1931, a single accusation would set of chain of events that created the tragic case of the “Scottsboro Boys”: a case that opened the eyes of a nation. The trials of the nine young negro men was a prime example of just how horrible racial prejudice could get. No other case in American history created as many retrials, convictions, reversions, and controversy as the Scottsboro case. The case itself lasted almost a decade, which was enough time to earn its rightful title as an “American tragedy.” The scottsboro trials not only highlighted racism in the United States, but it also exposed the flaws of the court system and led to the first stirrings of the civil rights movement. Many hoboes during the great depression era would catch rides on trains to search for jobs. Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris, Andy Wright, Roy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, and Olen Montgomery were riding such a train. After a white boy stepped on the hand of Haywood Patterson, the whites and negroes on the train began to throw stones at each other. As the fight escalated, the much larger group of blacks forced all but one of the whites off of the train. When they reported assault to the police, as large posse of police stopped the train and arrested every black individual there. By …show more content…
They had sexual relations with many of the white men on the train, which made them vulnerable to prosecution under the Mann act. (This was a law that made it illegal to transport women between states for immoral practices, such as prostitution.) Either in response to a question by the police, or by their own accord, the women testified that they had been raped by a group of black men on the train. Victoria Price identified nine men in the jail as the ones who had “raped” her and Bates: the Scottsboro boys. The nine were scheduled to stand trial the next