Scottsboro Trials

It was March 25, 1931 in Scottsboro, Alabama, when nine black teenagers on Southern Railroad freight alleged gang raped two white girls. Their case became known as The Scottsboro trials, making history for being the only crime in American history to have produced as many trials, convictions, reversals, and retrials as it did. Two newspapers that followed this story were in two major cities in which centrally had no real base in the case, other than to keep those around the world informed about the events taking place. "The New York Times", a white paper, and "The Chicago Defender", a black paper, were those two newspapers. In the white paper, readers were fed information with simply the facts and barely, if any emotions. The black paper on the other hand, was full of heartfelt emotion towards the case. They defended the boys and held on to their innocence, regardless of the facts. After reviewing the case myself, I found that even with the evidence provided from both papers, there had been a mistake and the young men had been wrongly accused.

On March 25th, 1931, 9 young blacks and four young whites rode the train. While on the train ride, one of the blacks by the name of Haywood Patterson had his hand stepped on by one of the whites, a fight broke out and the blacks managed to overthrow all but one of the whites. Of the four whites, two were female, Victoria Prince and Ruby Bates. After the overthrown whites went to the police about being ambushed, Victoria identified six of the nine as those who allegedly raped her and they assumed that had done the same to Ruby. In just three weeks, eight of the men were sentenced to the death penalty; the last one was only 14 and wasn't charged because he was still a minor. The trial set uneasy with a lot of those in the black community and raised a lot of questions in the white. Many people in the white community wanted to see justice served, by execution. They wanted to kill someone just to show that they were still powerful and something had been done.

An article in "The Chicago Defender" the fate of the young men is discussed. The accused were supposed to be executed on the 10th of July, but due to the Supreme Court's decision to review the case, the boys have been granted five months to wonder about their fate. "By the adjournment of the Alabama supreme court this week without having taken action on the appeal of the eight boys who were sentenced to the die in the electric chair for rape, these boys automatically get a stay of execution." This was the opening up to the article. False sense of hope, maybe, but I'm sure it caught the eye of those intertwined in the story. To those that stood behind the accused, this particular article would make the strongest believer more hopeful in the boys' fate. The paper was unquestionably intended to make those who read it feel sympathetic and supportive to these young men.

"The New York Times" first article that was appealing about the boys was an article that was more so a stating of events taking place. The actual trials failed to be addressed. In the article simple titled, The Scottsboro Cases, "The New York Times" restates a previous article written in the "The Selma Times-Journal" where the fairness received by the young men is put into question. There is nothing that states how the author feels about the article or the situation as a whole but simply states everything that was stated in the other paper. The small description simply says, "One of the oldest newspapers in the South, The Selma (Ala.) Times-Journal, published an editorial about the Scottsboro cases which has justly attracted attention." In a way it makes one think that maybe just maybe the papers could be on one accord through this short introduction.

A picture is being described in another article found in "The Chicago Defender". The description "tells of the appeal of Men to Reason" As you proceed to read the article, you are given a false sense of integrity. While in the beginning, you may not feel as though that there is a sense of hope. As the picture is described, the reader may feel a lost sense of hope. You are given an African American male placed in front of an Alabama Supreme Court in the early 1930's. Due to the time of the case and that in which the young man is charged, one would say that he is destined to be found guilty. As the article goes on you find that this is not the answer. There is hope in the judicial system in Alabama. The Scottsboro trial is one of those that once you know; it is something that you will never be able to forget. The author states reasons that you will never forget the case such as, "First because of the COLOR of the DEFENDANTS. Then because of the character of the young men who accused them." The reasons could go on for quite some time. This article is inspiration for those in doubt. Like many articles on the Scottsboro trials, this was no different in giving hope and maintaining a healthy fight tactic for the people.

In another article in "The New