Scottsboro Boys Trial

First, it both featured a well-experienced, well-respected lawyer, who knew who to win a case and had great evidence that proved their innocence that should have led to their freedom but lost due to the prejudice of the jury. Next, it also revealed that the women white who accused the black men of rape was lying and made this lie up to deflect the blame for their previous actions they committed. It worked since the jury would always take a white person’s word then a black person’s word. Finally, it ended with racism and unfairness inside jury duty. They did not let a black man judge another person’s fate as they think that they did not have enough character to do that.

Maycomb is suffering from a lot of prejudice, and many of the people in Maycomb are, in fact racist. When Tom gets poorly accused for raping and beating a white woman and immediately goes to court. Considering the fact that he is black, he has an unfair disadvantage; people will be judging him on his race, not his alleged actions. The book takes place in the 1930s, but there is still racism around today. During Tom’s trial, the jury and the court are basing their decisions off of what Tom looks like; his skin color and not on what his actions were.

I found this extremely hypocritical, as most interracial relationships were between a white man, and a black woman, and were not consensual. Kelley also discusses the systematic racism, and political corruptness within law enforcement, which shows how bad racism is. I found it particularly disgusting when the L.A. police chief tried to blame the deaths of black men on their anatomy, and how if they were normal they would’ve been fine. This essay was very eye opening for me, and will change the way I look at law enforcement, and even my own family

He also defended a black man named Tom Robinson. Bob Ewell claimed Tom hurt his daughter, Mayella Ewell. Atticus, unlike everyone else believed Tom Robinson was an innocent man. He believed that Bob Ewell a white man had to save himself for beating his daughter for tempting a black man. Atticus went before the entire courtroom and said that Tom Robinson was innocent just because he was black did not mean that

Although Nat Turner’s rebellion is unjustifiable because so many were killed, he is not entirely to blame because white slaveholders denied him and other black people of basic rights which forced them to act out. The morality of Nat Turner’s rebellion may initially seem like a bit of a gray area. The bottom line is, however, if you take away the racial issues, you are left with 55 people murdered in cold blood. It would be one thing if all of the victims were white slaveholders, but at least 24 of them were children (Baker, 179.) They were killed for things that they hadn’t even done.

In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.

Correspondingly, To Kill a Mockingbird was also set during that time period. Many connections can be made between the Scottsboro trials and Tom Robinson’s trial. For example, Tom is accused of rape on dubious terms. All nine of the boys in the Scottsboro trials were also accused of raping two women (one of whom recanted) who were not on the same railroad carriage. Another connection between the two cases is that there is sufficient evidence that Tom did not commit the crime.

In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee and the short story, “Only the Accused were Innocent”, by David Oshinsky, have many similarities. Two of these similarities that were important were that both judges were obviously disagreed or were troubled by the verdict and that both of the ladies that accused these men of raped to hide there own guilt. In the article “Only the Accused Were Innocent”,when the jury of the scottsboro trial had made their decision on the verdict the judge seemed to disagree with it, “But Horton, a wealthy landowner with deep antebellum roots in Alabama, was clearly troubled by the case”(Oshinsky). In “To Kill A Mockingbird” when judge Taylor finds out the verdict, he seems confused, “Judge Taylor was something.

After the funeral and public outcry had somewhat dies down the trial for his murder would begin , all involved admitted to different parts of the story some to the kidnapping others to the beating and also the discarding of Emmett 's body . All were known to the community to be of lesser education perhaps a certain class and rough . There was no denying they kidnapped and beat him or even murdered him but piecing it together was difficult and ultimately the prosecution could adequately prove a case in a southern state that was known for its dislike of what they believed to be a black young man stepping out of his place and speaking forwardly to a white woman . Some thought that Mr.Bryant acted out of defense for his wife 's position and his manhood that if he hadn 't done something that he would look foolish . It would have been very hard to convict case ,the jury would have been saturated with personal opinion and prejudice false truths and ignorant ways .

Finally, he states, “A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up” (20). Ultimately, the jury, not Atticus, declare Tom Robinson innocent or guilty. Atticus is trying to encourage the jury to do what is right, rather than do what society dictates, which is that they must convict a black man. By refusing to do so, they jury threaten the justice system and the equality Jefferson spoke passionately about. Despite Atticus’s logical argument, the jury of Maycomb could not be swayed from their prejudiced, racist views and declared Tom Robinson guilty.