Tom Robinson and the Scottsboro Boys: Victims of a Racist Society in the 1930s It is shocking how a country has the audacity to proclaim an innocent person guilty while knowing the truth. People are so suddenly blinded by their biased opinions and can’t seem to accept the truth. This is shown in the The Scottsboro Trials, which was a series of trials that involved nine Negro boys that were accused of raping two white women. The trial was actually a false allegation, of which the two white women were at fault. Furthermore, in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, he character Tom Robinson had a case that was very similar.
Tom was accused of raping a white woman, but he was falsely accused as well. Both cases have many things alike. They have various similarities between the boys who were accused and, both trials have prosecutors that compliment each other. As shown in both trials, the defendants are very much alike. The Scottsboro boys were all accused of raping two white women when they actually were just riding a freight train. They had one of the best criminal lawyers at that time period, but didn’t win the tedious case. The boys and lawyers fought hard to win, but here were many barriers in the way.
The barriers included a bias based on their skin color and their handicapped appearance. When the boys were put to trial, the world was in a state of extreme racial turmoil. Many were for racism; however, many were opposed to the idea. Everyone on the case was narrow-minded, which was very unfortunate for the boys. The fact that the boys were Negroes gave them a disadvantage at actually winning the case. That was very unfair because regardless of their color, they were still innocent. Also, the 12 jurors from the case, which included everyday people, were all white.
Equally important, the Scottsboro boys had gone against an all-white jury in the trial, which was a violation of their right of equal protection under law. On the other hand, the boys didn’t have a great physical appearance. For instance, one of the boys, Willie Robeson had suffered from syphilis and Olin Montgomery was nearly blind. Their outer appearance was used as an excuse in court, that they “looked” like rapists. That was also a detriment towards the defense. Even though, the boys had Leibowitz, one of the best lawyers at the time, they lost the case.
All the false evidence that was shown at the trial and all he factors that proved the boys were innocent, wasn’t enough for those blinded from the truth to realize the case was an injustice. In the same way. Tom Robinson’s case wasn’t fair either. Tom Robinson was presented with an all-white jury and prosecutors that had a negative opinion on Negroes. In the novel, Tom Robinson had a very small chance of winning the case because the whites were extremely racist. He already knew the verdict was in favor of Mayella Ewell simply because she was white.
Tom Robinson also had the best lawyer in town, just like the Scottsboro boys did, but his verdict was guilty. There was a large group of people on the case that knew Tom wasn’t guilty, and that Bob Ewell beat his daughter. Unfortunately, they let discrimination of skin color blind them from the pure truth. Another essential point is that Tom Robinson had an arm that was shorter than the other. It got caught in a cotton gin when he was younger. It made him look somehow hopeless and inferior, but he was pretty strong which gave the prosecuting attorney another excuse for the judge to doubt his innocence.
In the trial Mr. Gilmer even tries to use that as evidence that he could’ve beat Mayella. On page 223, Mr Gilmer asks, “Strong enough to choke the breath out of a woman and sling her to the floor? ” Mr. Gilmer tried to use Tom Robinson’s appearance to justify his claim that he had raped and beat Mayella. This is very similar to the accusations made in the Scottsboro Trial. Both the Scottsboro Trials and the Tom Robinson trial were very similar when comparing the accused. In the same way, both of the victims were similar as well. The accusers from the Scottsboro trial were both Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. They both didn’t have a clean background.
Both girls were hard labourers, who lso traded sexual pleasures with both white and black men for money. Victoria Price had also served time for adultery and vagrancy. At that time, what they did went against segregation, but they still had the audacity to accuse nine negro boys of raping them. On March 25th of 1931, both Victoria and Ruby had claimed they were raped by nine Negro boys in a freight train. It was as clear as day, that both of the girls had lied, but nobody admitted it. When both women were taken to trial and being questioned, they didn’t know how to defend themselves and state the evidence clearly.
At the end of the trial there was o real proof that Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were raped by nine Negro boys. Both girls were accusing the boys of raping them because they were covering up all the crimes they had committed. At the trial, they just kept making things up and getting frustrated just like Mayella Ewell did during her trial. Mayella Ewell, also incriminated Tom Robinson of raping her with no real evidence. Mayella was beaten up and she was abused but it wasn’t by Tom it was by her father. Mayella Ewell had actually invited Tom Robinson into her house, and lied saying she had something for him to do in her house.
Actually he was just trying to trap Tom in her house so she could take advantage of him. This is very similar to how Victoria Price and Ruby Bates took advantage of the boys on the train to make it look like they raped the girls. They used it as a cover up for their actual infractions committed. Furthermore, Mayella Ewell wasn’t sure if what she said in her testimony was correct or not. She continuously stumbled over her words, just like Victoria Price and Ruby Bates did. Mayella forgot if Tom had actually hit her or not, and would get upset when Atticus would indirectly accuse her father of abusing her.
To wrap up, the victims had much in common, especially their untrustworthy character. Lastly, as explained above, both cases have plenty in common. They both include falsely accused people who are completely innocent. In addition, the victims were very alike. It’s sad to realize that someone could maliciously frame another person for a horrible crime they didn’t commit. People ignore the truth because of certain barriers such as racism and ignorance that keep them from spreading the honest reality. In conclusion, in both the Scottsboro Trial and Tom Robinson’s there were many similarities which unfortunately were very negative.