Essay on Stories of Scottsboro

Submitted By sebastiancrane8
Words: 1001
Pages: 5
Open Document
Stories of Scottsboro
Stories of Scottsboro by James Goodman is an in-depth look at the case and overall events that occurred when nine black men are accused of raping two young white women. The black men range in age from thirteen to nineteen. And the two women whom they are accused of raping are seventeen and twenty-one years old. The men are arrested in March of 1931 at a train depot in Paint Rock Alabama after getting into a fight with a group of white men around the same age on the train earlier that day. They are then taken to a jail in Scottsboro Alabama because Scottsboro is the county seat of Jackson County. They were sentenced to death after a rushed and racially based trial, which caused much controversy within the United States and attracted attention around the globe.
Stories of Scottsboro is told from a third-person point of view and is written as a narrative. James Goodman is not presenting new information in this book; he is just arranging information that is already known to exist into an easy to follow retelling of the events that occurred during the trials through the eyes of people that were there. Goodman’s book is written in an interesting way. The book is divided into fifty-four rather short chapters in which he tells the story from a different perspective in each chapter, but still in the form of a narrative. With this narrative style and division of chapters into different perspectives, the book flows very well and captures the events taking place very thoroughly. He lists his sources in the bibliography and also briefly explains what his sources are in the preface. In the preface he says, “My sources include diaries, memoirs, oral histories, and autobiographies; previous histories of Scottsboro and numerous other works of history…”
Goodman’s goal with this book is to tell the stories of what happened on a more individual level in contrast to solely explaining why the men were arrested and how they were not given a fair trial. In the preface, he simply explains what he is setting out to do in his book “I retell people's stories, and I try to explain them, writing about what people saw and heard, where they got their news and information, and how their memories, ideas, and past experiences shaped their experience of Scottsboro. ” The author provides meticulous attention to detail as he tells the story of the Scottsboro Boys through the eyes of different individuals.
I find it hard to say whether or not other historians’ writings about this subject are in agreement with what Goodman is writing because I have not seen the story of Scottsboro written as a narrative in a form like this yet. There seems to be a consensus among historians on the subject of the trials for the Scottsboro Boys. I have yet to read any current publication that states that they were given a fair trial or that the case that the state of Alabama was presenting in court held any legitimacy. It is made evident that Goodman is trying to present these events in a new light.
Although he is telling the story from many different people's points of view, he is still able to focus much of his attention to the International Labor Defense (ILD), and the case that they presented. The book touches on the case that the state of Alabama has against the boys, which is very weak, but then goes back to focus on the ILD and their case as well as the fight between the ILD and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) for control of the case. The fight between the ILD and the NAACP occurred because neither the ILD, nor the NAACP would represent the boys unless all the boys agreed to give their
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Stories of Scottsboro

To Kill A Mockingbird Comparison

The scottsboro boys and To Kill a Mockingbird are very similar in many ways. In both stories the black men were accused of rape and because people are racist they believed the white people. In both stories the black men went to court and as did Tom in TKaM. Some similarities in To Kill a Mockingbird and the scottsboro boys is that they are both dealing with black people and that’s where people are automatically racist and they will believe a white woman over a black man. Racism in our society is…

Words 590 - Pages 3

Essay On The Scottsboro Boys

Witch Trials and the Scottsboro Trials are clear. The Scottsboro Trials are the longest running court case for a crime that didn’t occur (The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys). The case produced many trials, convictions and retrials (The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys). It involved nine black teen boys and two white girls (The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys). This was a case of an alleged gang rape on a Southern Railroad freight, on March 25, 1931 (The Trials of The Scottsboro…

Words 716 - Pages 3

Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence as helps to prove that the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused…

Words 628 - Pages 3

Scottsboro Boys And Tom Robinson Case Study

1. Trials such as those of the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson have sometimes been referred to as “courtroom lynchings.” What do you think that description means? It doesn't mean physically lynching, but that it's more like a mental thing. Like when the whites are oppressing and discriminating against the blacks with their words and privileges. 2. What roles did race, gender, and class play in whom juries believed and whom they did not believe in Southern courtrooms in the 1930s? Race played…

Words 405 - Pages 2

Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

white females accused nine black males of attacking and raping them near Scottsboro, Alabama.(Scottsboro Boys, Trial and Defense Campaign (1931–1937) The boys were treated unfairly and did not receive a fair trial due to racism. The Scottsboro boys were wrongly convicted of rape in 1931 and their convictions marked one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in US history. (The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys) The Scottsboro boys had more trials, convictions, reversals, and retrials than any other…

Words 319 - Pages 2

Scottsboro Boys Trial Research Paper

raping two white females and know you didn’t do it. This is only part of the story of the Scottsboro Boys trial. If you want to find out how this trial rolls out, what actually happened/ the outcome, and how it relates to the book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, then continue reading! The Scottsboro Boys trial is very bias based, prejudiced, and racist.. Two girls, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, accused the Scottsboro boys of raping them on an Alabama train car. The two were on a job search,…

Words 643 - Pages 3

Scottsboro Boys Research Paper

On March 25, 1931 it was just the beginning for the Scottsboro Boys. Nine young black men were falsely accused of raping two white women on board a train near Scottsboro, Alabama. Eugene Williams, Roy Wright, Charlie Weems, Andy Wright, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, and Ozie Powell were young boys hoping to find work in Memphis, Tennessee. A fight broke out between a group of whites and the young black men. The group of black boys threw their opponents off…

Words 521 - Pages 3

The Scottsboro Boys Case: Poor Racial Equality

The Scottsboro Boys case was a case that showed poor racial equality. This particular case changed the way us americans looked at segregation. It was so bad that the judge was going against the black innocent and harmless youths. This particular case consisted of nine innocent african american juveniles. They all aged from the age of 12 to the age of 20. The boys were named Charlie Weems, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Andy Wright, Willie Roberson, Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Eugene Powell…

Words 295 - Pages 2

Tom Robinson Case

Mayella made the move on him. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates said that they were raped and attacked by six negro boys, and injustice was served once again. Although the Scottsboro Boys case and the Tom Robinson case are similar in the aspect of blacks being accused of rape by white women, they are different in several ways. The Scottsboro Boys case was used by Harper Lee as a storyline to write To Kill…

Words 1770 - Pages 8

Similarities Between Scottsboro Boys And To Kill A Mockingbird

there are many horrible mistakes made in courts, one of them happens to be the case of The Scottsboro boys. In their case they face judgement, unfair treatment, and an unfair sentence. Many author wrote books about them or close to their story, Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird had a similar case. In the novel Tom Robison is accuse of rape and sentence to life imprisonment. The trails of Scottsboro Boys and To Kill a Mockingbird had characters that displayed similarities. Also, both cases…

Words 1061 - Pages 5