Why Are The Scottsboro Trials Important Today

On March 25, 1931, the lives of nine young African American boys would be changed forever, and certainly not for the better. The boys, ages ranging from thirteen to twenty, were falsely accused of raping two white women on a train and tried multiple times in court. The set of trials is a largely forgotten and overlooked landmark case for not only the Civil Rights Movement, but all of American history. The Scottsboro Boys Trials have shaped modern American society by evolving and inclusifying constitutional law, shedding a national light on legal misconducts, and acted as a beacon of hope for the Civil Rights Movement in one of its earliest stages.

Charlie Weems, Willie Robeson, Olen Montgomery, Ozzie Powell, Eugene Williams, Roy and Andy Wright,

The trial stirred national outrage, not only from African Americans but from white folk as well.On June 27, 1931, 5,000 black and white, men and women, paraded through the streets of Harlem ina Scottsboro protest demonstration, in solidarity for the young boys. Letters of uproar were being mailed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the ACLU, the NAACP, and even the American Communist Party all got involved. The ACLU played a crucial role in getting the two aforementioned Supreme Court rulings by presenting them with attorney Walter Pollak, an expert on constitutional law (“ACLU History: Scottsboro Boys”). The organization remained active in providing support for the defendants and their families, and advancing their cause. All coming forward to assist with appeals, the American Communist Party lended more than just a helping hand, they offered up their leading lawyer Samuel Leibowitz and began a “Free the Scottsboro Boys” campaign. This led to fear and suspicion, from other African Americans, but mostly white people. “The Scottsboro, Alabama, cases have brought squarely before the American Negro the question of his attitude toward Communism." W.E.B. Du Bois editorialized in an issue of NAACP's journal The Crisis. Du Bois was convinced that the only reason the communist started the “Free the Scottsboro Boys” campaign was as a means to get African Americans to

More than just the legalities of the situation, their case displayed that it was in fact possible to defend African Americans from the prolonged repression and racism of the south. However, no one of the time was foolish enough to believe that anything would be accomplished without struggle. The story of the Scottsboro boys is still relevant in today’s racially tense climate. While the United States has come a long way progressively, there are still parallels between then and now. False accusations and police brutality against black men can still be seen in every corner of the country. The United States also has the highest incarceration rate out of the entire developed world, and the black man falls more victim to this than any other racial group. “Approximately 12–13% of the American population is African-American, but they make up 35% of jail inmates, and 37% of prison inmates of the 2.2 million male inmates as of 2014” (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014). The fight upheld by these nine young boys serves as a symbol of strength and perseverance to the Civil Rights