Mississippi Trial By Chris Crowe

During Tom Robinson’s trial, the strong prejudice of Maycomb County and the negative effects of its social stratification were clearly demonstrated. Whilst Tom Robinson is innocent of the crime of rape, he gave the Caucasians more reason to convict him on the basis of daring to feel sorry for a Caucasian - it is not expected that a negro (considered as being a part of the lowest class of society, event lower than the ‘white trash’) could feel sorry for a Caucasian and the Caucasians could not accept such a presumption.

In Scottsboro, Alabama, March 9, 1931 nine African american boys, Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Haywood Patterson, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, Andy Wright, and Roy Wright were incriminated of rapeing two white women on the subway. As they were accused of raping Ruby Bates and Victoria Price they were put on trial. This trail was long and unfair.

In the small town of Maycomb, prejudice towards Negroes was a common sentiment of white people. Prejudice is strongly evident between these cultures in To Kill

March 25, 1931, nine men hopped on to a freight train of no return (Uschan 10). Unjust, prejudice, and racist the Scottsboro Trials, were definitely not just another ordinary case. The Scottsboro Trials changed how America viewed segregation. The nine young men, who hopped onto that train that day, were innocent and harmless. The Scottsboro Trials revealed the unjust treatment that African Americans faced outside of the Harlem Renaissance and changed views on segregation.

The Scottsboro trials happened in the 1931 and dragged on for years. These cases were solely based on the prejudice surrounding blacks and gender. The cases presented in the Scottsboro Film represented the fight for justice. Nine boys were wrongfully arrested and imprisoned for years while society used these young black mens oppression to further its own agenda.These cases ruined the life of nine young men but they also helped make dramatic, vital changes in the criminal justice system and the constitution. The misfortune of the nine men tried and convicted during this time opened the eyes of so many blind to the injustice that african americans suffer from still to this day. The Scottsboro trials greatly defined the future of the criminal

After reading the intense story of Emmett Till in the Mississippi Trial, the romantic, yet engaging Pride & Prejudice, and depressing, yet confusing story of Hamlet, have taught me that you really need to look twice before you completely understand what’s happening in the novels. Thought my essay you are going to see reasons why I’m choosing to write about the three stories I listed above and how they have influenced my life and how I gained more of a perspective on the different times throughout the centuries and how they have evolved going from Emmett Till’s segregation age to Pride and Prejudice’s romance during the renaissance age to Hamlet’s Medieval Times.

Racism was a normal thing in Maycomb County, but out of the entire county Bob Ewell was the worst. “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella.” (Lee 231) Bob Ewell refers to Tom Robinson as (a) “black nigger” on the witness stand in front of everyone. Clearly, he doesn’t care about discriminating Tom Robinson right in front of his face and also in front of the people that are in the courtroom. “As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life…” (Lee 295). If Bob Ewell had put himself in Tom’s shoes, he would have seen how hard of a life it is for African Americans. He is one who will “cheat black men everyday of (his) life”, because of his ignorance. (Lee 295) Being racist not only hurts the victim, but ruins your reputation and your life.

Past experiences shape nature and disposition.When someone goes through a dramatic event, they change for the better or worse. The novel Mississippi Trial, 1955, concerns Hiram’s experience with witnessing the murder of an African American and figuring out how to respond to it. It soon becomes clear that Hiram’s past experiences with his father have affected his viewpoint on life. For example, Hiram states, “It made me sick, and all I wanted to do was get out of there, out of Mississippi, and back home where things and people weren’t so crazy.” (Crowe 192) This shows significant character development for him, which contributes to identity. Hiram’s experience in witnessing a failed justice system for African Americans also caused a change in his personality. In the beginning of the book, he loved Greenwood, his grandfather’s home, and thought it was incredible. In the beginning, he states, “It was the best place on Earth” and that he, “loved [his] grandparents.” (Crowe 3) This demonstrates that there is a change in Hiram’s thought process and that this will change his personality and self-identification. Clearly, the murder of Emmett Till affected how Hiram viewed himself and others. Before, Hiram could be described as a young boy who had a blind, immense love for his grandfather and the South. However, his experience with Emmett Till and observing a murder that his grandfather was part of reformed Hiram, who came to

Another example of social inequality in Evicted was not in the housing market, but when Desmond witnessed a police officer harassing Arleen’s eldest son, Ger-Ger. Desmond describes the experience by saying, “I watched a police officer pull his patrol car up to Ger-Ger, Arleen’s eldest son, and say, ‘Man you’re fucked up!’...When I came out of the apartment for a closer look, the officer looked at me and drove away. He might have acted differently had I not been a white man with a notepad.” (P. 322). Desmond was not only witnessing inequality in the housing market, but also within the police department. When I read this, I could not believe that the police would rather harass a young black man than keep the streets of Milwaukee clean. Desmond witnessed this inequality firsthand, and I think he saw how unfairly these families were treated. In Hillbilly Elegy, Vance described a lack of social acceptance from the people in Middletown towards the people from Appalachia. Vance described the way that hillbillies handled many problems as “Hillbilly Justice.” This form of problem solving within their community was highly frowned upon by the suburbanites of Middletown. The culture of Appalachia was highly irregular, but that is not a reason to look down upon or discriminate against a group of people. J.D even described that when he was in Middletown, he

As Wright continued working, his “Jim Crow education” resumed (253), he learned that not listening to or obeying what a white person told you would lead to serious consequences. A lady was beat up by two white men simply because she didn’t pay her bills, “I heard shrill screams coming from the rear of the store. Later the woman stumbled out, bleeding, crying, and holding her stomach” (253). And if the beating wasn’t enough, a white cop was there waiting for her when she came out and she was thrown into his car after being accused of being drunk. After telling his friends about the horrendous incident, they weren’t shocked. In fact, they were surprised that that’s all they did to her and actually

Emmett Louis Till was born on July 25, 1941, in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of Louis and Mamie Till. Till never knew his father, a private in the United States Army during World War II. Mamie and Louis till separated in 1942, and three years later they received word from the Army that the soldier had been executed for “Willful Misconduct” while serving in Italy. Emmett till who went by the nickname Bobo, grew up in a thriving, middle class black neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. The neighborhood was a haven for black-owned businesses, and the streets he roamed as a child were lined in black-owned insurance companies, pharmacies, and beauty salons as well as nightclubs that drew the likes of Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan. Those

Emmett Till was an 14 year old African- American boy who was brutally murdered for allegedly whistling at a white women. Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, and went into a small store, but no really knows what happened. His friends may have dared him to ask her out. Carolyn said he wolf -whistled , but he had polio as a young child ,so he was taught to whistle before he’d say a hard word.His friends did hear him say ‘bye baby’ , Carolyn was insulted and told her husband. He was kidnapped, tortured, and killed by J.W. Miliam and Roy Bryant. They gouged out his eye ,threw him in the river, and they were not guilty of this crime. His body couldn’t be identified , tied his body to a cotton gin, and they kidnapped him. Emmett

That’s what James Farmer grew up hearing. Those words determined everything he could and could not do. His town, he said, “was two towns-two worlds-one black, the other white.” I live in a time where I can go anywhere I wish with no worries. James was going to the “National Negro Conference” in Richmond. He was bringing along his friend and a white kid from the University of Texas. When planning his trip there was worry about driving through the deep south. He planned around it “thus avoiding the worst part of the South.” Living in this racism must have had a large role in James intellectual growth. During his childhood, he was denied many privileges. In his words, “Educated and uneducated alike were denied the privileges of trying on clothes in most downtown stores.” To me, this would have a negative impact on my life. Going places and people don’t serve you because of the color of your skin and not knowing why would have a tremendous

Emmett Till is a 14 year old African American boy who was brutally murdered. Emmett was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi and went into a small store. No one knows what happened in it. His friends dared Emmett to ask out Carolyn Bryant, who was insulted and told her husband. Carolyn said he wolf whistled, but he was taught to whistle before saying hard words. Roy Bryant was furious when he figured this out. Later Emmett was taken by J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant. Emmett was beat, tortured, and tied to a cotton gin before he was thrown into a river. His body was so disfigured that his own uncle couldn't recognize his body. A jury of all white men found J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant not guilty. Emmett, a young black child was savagely killed for

During the Great Depression, racism was a common practice in the southern states of the US. Negros and those who opposed the intolerance were often discriminated by the rest of the bias and ignorant society, who believed in white supremacy and superiority over the other races. Maycomb, a racist town, exemplify this discrimination, imperiously judging others they view as being dissimilar from themselves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, weaves a brilliant story of prejudice, discrimination, and racism shown through the novel’s several characters and events, producing a mirror reflection of America’s racist society in the 1930’s.