Scottsboro Case

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.

Silence is distributed everywhere, from the word of mouth to way of action. One cannot say that they’ve never been hushed at the sudden sequence of events that they see negative, because silence is created from fear that everyone has. Being silent constructs a butterfly effect of bad results, giving one the ugly name of “bystander”. We have some sort of silence, whether it be verbally and/or physically, and it all revolves around the fear of the unknown future. We become silent when a fight breaks out, we become silent when we feel a future ridicule, we become silent at an uneasy sense of the retaliation. Clint Smith, a teacher, author, and poet, delivers a powerful message on the jeopardy of not speaking up. He wants to put an end to the tyranny of silence, to overcome the restraint that is one’s viewpoint. Silence is a sign of giving up, a fault on one’s behalf, and with the society that we have, we feed off of that negativity. That negativity can be solved with civil protocol. We always look at the negative before the positive, the silence before the voice. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Smith wants

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.

When Atticus took the case, he went up against Maycomb, a generally prejudiced town, in order to defend Tom. He understood that taking the case would make him an object of ridicule and that no one would forgive him for believing a black man's word over a white man's. Even his own sister expresses disapproval at his decision, practically telling him he was bringing disgrace to the family. Nevertheless, no matter how much his reputation suffered, he did not change his mind. Standing up for his morals and ethics was more important than what people thought about him. From the very start Atticus knows he will not win the case however he does his job and finishes what he set out to do.

I swore never to remain silent whenever and wherever humans beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.- Elie Weisel

During World War II from 1933 to 1945 in Europe, horrifying systematic events took place were millions of innocent people were tortured and killed based on their religious views, culture, and sexual orientation. The Nazi’s under the command of Adolf Hitler committed these crimes. These horrifying systematic events that took place are known as the Holocaust. The following texts Elie Wiesel’s Night, Eve Bunting’s Terrible Things, and Martin Niemoller First They Came all convey how the surrounding public during World War II stayed silent and didn't stand up for the people who were being oppressed. All three of these texts explains why it is highly important to stop indifference and inaction. Indifference can lead to horrific actions; those actions can probably lead to the genocide of an entire group, furthermore the inaction of a bystander can not only affect and hurt the victim but can also strongly affect the bystander, and finally inaction against oppression can harm and devastate many lives.

Injustice brings anger and fear to everyone. It could cause someone to act unconsciously or hide to wait for an end. Injustice shapes our history, proven by the French Revolution, the Holocaust, and 9/11. Yet these events are history, what is the right way to respond and end injustice? Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and writer, wrote many forms of literacy including Night that shares his experiences and actions during the Holocaust and “We Choose Honor” an article that features 9/11 and the United States’s response to it. Similarly, Maurice Ogden’s poem “The Hangman” demonstrates the flaws that occur when a population refuses to confront authority or injustice. Wiesel argues that the right way to respond to an act of injustice is to work as a group with your peers to solve the situation. Wiesel is correct in his belief of solving injustice because humans, at their core, are social beings that are more likely to succeed helping each other, and a group of humans is more intimidating and have more power to overcome injustice.

In the 1930’s teenagers from across the country were leaving their homes to search for jobs due to the extreme poverty caused by the Great Depression. Whether it was blacks or whites, they were all affected one way or the other by the nation’s economical failure. It became popular for the young men and women to travel by freight trains to arrive to the places with better job opportunities. Around this time blacks were still not treated fairly, even in poverty. In the Scottsboro case in Alabama two white woman prostitutes falsely accused nine African American youths of rape on a freight train car; the boys were convicted in every trial due to the prejudices of an all white jury, and they had an attorney with little to no motivation to put any effort into their defense.

Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial subjects in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, would be whether or not Atticus Finch should have defended Tom Robinson. However, in order to understand this controversy, a person must first be able to understand Atticus Finch himself. Atticus as a character is a very intellectual person who possesses the fortitude to stand up for whatever he believes is right and will not let other people’s choices affect his own. Furthermore, it is also important to understand that Atticus is not a racist, nor does he approve of the idea that one group of people are better than another based on their appearances in general, and because of this, a person can generalize that Atticus’s characteristic traits are why he did not complain when given the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. A man that he, as well as a small group of other people from town, viewed as the picture of innocence. In their eyes, Tom was no more than a mockingbird, “[and mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but make music for [people] to enjoy” (Lee 119). Knowing this, anyone with a reasonably strong sense of what is right and what is wrong can conclude that it does make sense for Atticus Finch to have taken the case due to his belief that it is a sin to kill the innocent as well as his courage that allows him to stay true to his ideas, even though when taking the case, he was inevitably going to be putting his

It took an unimaginable amount of courage for Atticus to take the Tom Robinson case knowing he and his children would be harassed by all the other townspeople. For instance, when “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from the water tank” (105). Also, Atticus knew he had a very low chance of succeeding in winning the case, but he took it anyways. He knows the town will think differently about him solely because he is defending a black man. He also knows that his children will be shown a lot of hatred. Even knowing this, Atticus takes the case and tries his best. Not only did he know he would take hatred, he also knew he would lose. But, he knew this case would define who he was “every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally”(96). While talking to the Judge he knows that he will most likely not win, but that does not change his mind. He knows just because Tom Robinson is black that he will not win. The Jury will see the white man who claims his white daughter was raped and believe him with no doubt. No matter what Atticus says to try to change the jury’s mind, he knows he can only try his best. To summarize, Atticus shows courage knowing not only that the town would hate him, but also that he would lose the

You must take a side, being neutral always helps the oppressor, you must move in and undermine their plans, only then can you prevent wrongdoings like the holocaust. Elie also urges for people to take own matters into their priority before others

The American judicial system is designed to have equal and fair trials. The 14th amendment abides with that and has made it so everyone receives just trials. Today’s society and judicial system have definitely improved from the past in regards to racism, however, in some cases blacks continue to get convicted and charged without solid or any evidence, solely taken on the word of skeptical or influenced witnesses. Yet, in recent years, science and technology have developed and allowed our legal system to exonerate many innocent people. Sadly, in the past, many blameless people suffered the death penalty from these false accusations. Racial bias and prejudice in the American judicial system are displayed in the Scottsboro Boys case, Harper Lee’s

People often wonder, are we guilty if we are standing by while someone else is having their rights taken from them. In 1986, Elie Wiesel made a speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize after writing stories about his time in a concentration camp. Then there's Malala Yousafzai who is an education activist fighting for women's right to a free education. In 2012, while riding home from school, her school bus was boarded and she was shot in the head but she survived. In Wiesel's speech and Malala’s story we see people’s rights being taken away and no one helped either of them which is wrong, both came close to death and no one bothered to help.

For example, 30 people allegedly heard a woman’s cry while she was being killed. But, they didn’t say or do anything about it. They could've said or done something about it. They could’ve called the police, confronted the man, or told others.. Even if you are the only one who sees or overhears something, speak up to save

Injustice should never be tolerated. There are times when people should be silent about their beliefs, but other times they should stand up for what is right.