The nine unemployed black men, known as the Scottsboro Boys, were taken off a freight train for illegally riding in Scotssboro Alabama. Local police decided to elevate their minor charge by pulling two white women, pressuring them into accusing the boys of raping them. Deriving from the publicized lynchings of the Jim Crow Era, African Americans convicted of raping white women faced no mercy. Within two weeks of the accusation, eight of nine men were sentenced to death by an all-white jury, and the latter faced lifetime imprisonment because of his young age.
However, the Communist-dominated International Labor Defense rallied public support for the Scottsboro Boys. The group focused on fighting economic exploitation as well as racism, and immediately took on the case. After the conviction of the nine men, the American Communist Party and the ILD engaged in a nation wide protest campaign in efforts to overturn the decision, and in general advocated against discrimination in America. The parties were eventually joined by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, fueling the efforts for the end of racism.
The campaign gained so much support and influence that one of the women accusing the Scottsboro Boys eventually came forward and testified that they were pressured into falsely accusing the men, and even joined the support for the veto of the court decision. The case eventually went to Supreme Court, and the lives of the nine accused men were spared. The event marked a significant dent in the Jim Crow legal system, and the united effort towards the end of racism.
The specific cases that derived from the event included Powell v. Alabama, which determined that the men did not have their right due process because they were sentenced to death before being represented by a lawyer. Furthermore, Norris v. Alabama allowed for African Americans to be included in jury pools due to the right to fair trial and equal representation.
Sources:
https://www.aclu.org/other/aclu-history-scottsboro-boys
https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/scottsboro-boys-trial-defense-campaign-1931-1937/
http://famous-trials.com/scottsboroboys
I found it incredibly interesting that the Communist-dominated International Labor Defense was the primary agitator for the justice of these boys. I think the rise of communism in America in the early 20th century isn't as widely discussed, even though it had a large impact on history. While America's extremely capitalistic structure prevented communism from becoming as prevalent as in Europe, it definitely impacted America socially and politically (as seen in both the Scottsboro cases and in the presidential elections in the 30's with William Z Foster). As we learned in Freedom From Fear, over 100,000 Americans immigrated to the Soviet Union, showing a desire to find solutions outside of democracy to social and economic problems.
ReplyDeleteIf you wanted to learn more about Communism and its current holding in America, I suggest reading the following! http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26126325