This article is about the famous case of The Scottsboro Boys. It is the story of 9 african american men arrested and put on trial for the supposed assault and rape of two white girls on a train in 1931 in Alabama. There was so much evidence that the girls were lying but because of the time period, it was just easier to convict the african american men. They were sentenced to death, and remained in jail for over 7 years before they were actually trialed.
I chose this article because it really gave a sense of the separation going on at this time between blacks and whites which contributed greatly to the Scottsboro case. They were kept in separate cells to avoid riots because people were so infuriated at the accusations. Later obviously we find out they were all innocent. But these men spent huge chunks of their lives in prison simply becuase their skin color was blocking the truth from being heard.
I believe this article can take me into a well developed essay on how blacks were treated in 1931 and how this affected the case. Also it gave me insight on how jail was back then for these inidividuals. Since they spent a long time there I think it is important to know what really goes on. I think this is going to be a great essay =)
