What Are The Similarities Between The Scottsboro Boys And To Kill A Mockingbird

Comparing and Contrasting the Trials of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Scottsboro Boys

The Great Depression of the 1930s affected every race living in the United States but no race was hit harder than the African Americans. Africans Americans were usually the victims of injustices by the hands of white people. In courtrooms race was valued more than evidence when giving a verdict for an African America. This is similar to the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and the real life trials of the Scottsboro Boys. During both trials many of the main characters share the same background and attitudes towards the cases. In addition, some of the evidence was overlooked.

The Scottsboro Boys were accused of raping two

While giving their testimonies, both girls seemed to have poor memory when describing the events of the alleged rape. While being questioned about the alleged rape Price responded with things such as “I ain’t sure” and “I wouldn’t say-I ain’t positive” (Haskin 56). When Atticus Finch asked Mayella if Tom Robinson had hit her in the face she responded saying, “No I don’t recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me” (Lee 248). Both of these girls used their ignorance to their advantage and pretended to not remember how the assaults happened. This should have hinted to the judges that something was wrong with their testimonies but since they were white their testimonies were believed to be true. Price and Ewell also shared bad reputations in their towns. A neighbor of Price described her as being “a common street prostitute of the lowest type” (Linder, “Victoria Price”). Atticus described the Ewells as being “a disgrace to Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day of work in his recollection…they were people but they lived like animals” (Lee 20). This show that they had every reason to want to accuse a black youth of rape since it would have redeemed their reputations. The Ewells were considered to be the worst but the town still believed in their incoherent testimonies because the African Americans were considered to be worse than them. Price and Ewell were venomous while giving their testimonies. During her cross-examination Price said that when she was being penetrated, her attacker told her that when he pulled his “thing” out, “you will have a black baby” (Linder, “The Trials of The Scottsboro Boys”). At the end of her cross-examination Mayella