The Story of the Scottsboro Trials: The court case that shaped the
Civil Rights Movement
The
Martin Luther King “I have a Dream” speech, Rosa Parks, and the ground breaking
decision from Brown v. Board of Education were the foundation that helped
construct the civil rights movement. It is well known that the Civil Rights
movement began in the mid to late 1950’s well into the 1980’s. Whether it was African
Americans fighting for the end of segregation to gender equality movement to
the Chicano Movement, the foundation of these struggles were the necessity to
become equal. These groups sought to change the national staple that label
these groups as inferior, an issue that plagued the lower class for decades. Prior
to the Civil Rights movement, Alabama was at the center of the Jim Crow Law, where a train ride greatly altered the lives of nine African
Americans boys. This may quite have been the beginning of the Civil Rights
movement for many reasons.
Throughout
the early 1900’s it was common in the South that once an accusation
was made against an African American, regardless of its legitimacy, the law
proclaimed that suspect guilty until proven innocent. This issue was a common
practice among lawyers, judges and prosecutors, who would deny the liberty and fair
trial of African Americans. The Scottsboro trail was no exception. These boys
were being prosecuted after a rumble ensued on a freight train traveling
throughout Alabama. The nine Scottsboro boys left a group of white kids stranded
after they were kicked out the train following the fight. Thus leaving two
white women on the train with the remaining nine black boys. After word got out
about the fight and that two white women were left on the train, a group of
armed civilians and officers were waiting in Paint Rock, Alabama,
the stop that altered the lives of these men forever. After these nine men were
arrested, the two women, Victoria Gates and Ruby Price, were taken into custody
and asked if they were assaulted. It was reported that the police officer that
questioned the woman place this misleading notion that these black boys raped
these woman. In an attempt to harm these boys, much greater than an assault
against the white gang, the public wanted these boys to suffer by charging each
with rape of the two white women.
The
court case, which was widely controversial for its lack of evidence and severe illustration
of racism, received national attention from several radical legal-action
organizations such as the NAACP and the International labor defense. These
organizations wanted to broadcast to a national level the inequities in the
Alabama justice system. As the court cases went to trial the initial verdict
rendered that all nine suspect were guilty in the rape of Victoria Price and
Ruby Gates. In 1932, the International labor defense sought to challenge the
initial verdict on the grounds that these men were discriminated against,
grounds for an immediate re-trial. The case was appealed up to the Alabama
Supreme court, in which the decision was upheld. It was not until the landmark
supreme court ruling of Powell v. Alabama stated that it is deemed
unconstitutional to deny the right to counseling from the time of their
arraignment up to the time of the trial. This was the second landmark decision
that allowed African Americans the right to receive equality in the justice
system. This may well in fact have been the start of the civil rights movement.
Following the decision from Powell v.
Alabama, another major precedent was set in Patterson v. Alabama where
an African American is denied his due process constitutional right if the jury
pool excludes African Americans. These two major precedents laid the foundation
to allow African Americans the opportunity to fight for equality. This was
during an era where the United States justice system have finally shun the
light on developing a system based on equality. The actions from this case was
ahead of its time, the precedents were the only staple in allowing African
Americans to fight back. Society was too fearful to combat these issues because
this was still during the time of lynching, Jim Crowe and post-reconstruction.
These
court decisions were made during the time of the great depression, continuous
culture battle between the north and the south, and legal violence within the
justice system. Although there weren’t any major upheaval among the black
community with riots and protest, the subject of the case allowed African
Americans to seek justice. This court case provided an alternative to
persecution. It allowed African Americans to help develop the idea that justice
may finally be available to them. This case demonstrated that in order to seek
some form of liberation from a deeply rooted racial society one must fight. The
fight that was shown in this court case was a legal battle that the nine
Scottsboro and their lawyers would never give up, that in order for an issue to
finally change one must fight for it. The state of Alabama was against the nine
boys whether it was the legal system or the white community. The only thing
that those nine innocent children had were the fight and determination to stop
these reckless acts of social injustice.
These
men filed for their freedom. Although there were not completely successful,
those nine African American boys opened the door to the civil rights movement.
It took sacrificing their freedom and lives to allow the African American
community to change the ideology of what it meant to be free. It was clear that
nothing was going to be given to them; they had to take matters into their own
hand. Showcasing that freedom and peace will only be guaranteed if you fight
for it.
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