The trial of Tom Robinson, from the novel of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is almost identical to the lives and trial of the Scottsboro Boys. Both trials were perfect examples of how the people of Alabama favored certain races. Bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Thinking whites were above the law and could do whatever they wanted to the Negroes and get away with it. A white person’s word was automatically the truth when it was held up to the credibility of someone whom was black. Together, white women accused black men of rape, therefore making the men decisively guilty of the crime.
Finding lawyers for the accusers would be complicated. But two well-educated white men took a stand and fought for the equality of fairness and race, even though they knew it was against the wishes of the townspeople. Clearly, the settings of the two cases are noticeably similar. Each incident took place in Alabama during the Great Depression. In the Great Depression Era, 1930’s, summer’s heat was dreadfully unbearable, which is another similarity. “Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning.” (5) Scottsboro and Tom Robinson were accused during the summer months.
During this time hatred between whites and blacks were distinctively strong. Similarly, Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys were charged with the rape of young white females. Trials were held in small towns of Alabama giving each man a chance to testify. Jury members found both parties guilty of rape while keeping the thought of “All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers,” in mind. The sentences the men received were prison, resulting in the death penalty. One of the nine boys of the Scottsboro Boys, Clarence Norris, stated, “I’m as good as dead.” Most of the boys’ lives from Scottsboro and Tom Robinson’s life came to an end while in prison.
The Essay on Racism In Wrights Black Boy
Racism in Wright's Black Boy The theme of Richard Wright's autobiography Black Boy is racism. Wright grew up in the deep South; the Jim Crow South of the early twentieth century. From an early age Richard Wright was aware of two races, the black and the white. Yet he never understood the relations between the two races. The fact that he didn't understand but was always trying to, got him into ...
The character, Atticus Finch, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird can relate directly to Judge James E. Horton who was involved with the Scottsboro case. Atticus Finch, Tom Robison’s lawyer, and Judge Horton, were similar to each other in various senses. Wise older men whom were considered extremely fair – minded. Both Finch and Horton were well – educated in the area of politics and law. Atticus and the Judge were polite, articulate, generous men.
Fighting against the crowd, they took the sides of Negroes and treated them just as equally with the same amount of respect as they did any other pupil. The two knew Mayella and Victoria were lying through their teeth. The girls were hiding something. Judge James E. Horton said, “You are not trying whether or not the defendant is white or black — you are not trying that question; you are trying whether or not this defendant forcibly ravished a woman.” Lynch mobs tried attacking the men held responsible of rape, but Atticus and the Judge did what they could to change this.
An important factor of each man was his temper. They never raised their voices in or outside of the house and remained cool under pressure. Since a respected white man was defending a helpless black man, townspeople coalesced into the courthouse as one as there was not an empty seat left wanting to see the results of White vs. Black. Another parallel of both trials was the accuser, two white women, Mayella Ewell and Victoria Price. Young Mayella Ewell was accountable for crying out rape by Tom Robinson.
Victoria Price indicted the nine Scottsboro Boys of rape. The two were lower class, poor lonely women only wanting attention. Ewell and Price grew up in unstable homes and were from time to time abused, physically and verbally. Wanting to hide a personal matter is why the two screamed rape, not wanting to get into trouble. So putting blame on another human was a perfect scam or cover up. Equally alike, the fictional trial and the actual trial share the same outcomes.
The Term Paper on Black Judge White Judges Defendants
We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." Thomas Jefferson wrote these immortal words in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. One has the right to impose the question "Are we truly equal" simply by taking a look at American society. Presently, the United States is a country in which thirty-three percent of the male ages eighteen to thirty years old of African ...
Jury members found both trials guilty of rape and sentenced them to prison. If any one of them were well – behaved while in prison, then they were allowed parole. But most of the men didn’t make it that far and resulted in death in prison. Yet, the two trials’ outcomes are different in some ways. Tom Robinson’s trial was completed within one day, whereas the Scottsboro Trial lasted over six years. Parallel and bias were shown in both cases, every racist witness showed prejudice to the black men who were accused.
Major characters that were involved with the trial were similar too. Both Atticus and Judge Horton fought for the equal treatment of blacks in the judicial system as the whites. The accusers of the black men were alike too. The place and time that both of the trials took place were exactly the same as well. Every single aspect of both of the trials is the same except for the some of their outcomes. One outcome was that the men got away, which was amazing because it was true life and the other was more realistic that the black man was killed and the racists had their justice served..
