Nov. 9, 2005
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Scottsboro: Race and Radicalism in the New Deal

Today I plan to spend most of class time showing you an excellent documentary, "Scottsboro: An American Tragedy."  The Scottsboro case was one of the most important incidents in race relations in the 1930s.  It also was a stage on which American Communists, black and white, fought against racism.  Here is a brief description from the PBS website of the documentary:

        "In 1931, two white women stepped from a box car in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. The trial of the nine falsely accused teens would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to its historical significance, the Scottsboro story is a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for their lives and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes."

        If you're unable to make class today, Knight Library has a copy of the video.  I urge you to watch it.  The catalogue number is Video 06240 in the Reserve/Video room.

Link to "Famous Trials" website on Scottsboro
 

There are two outstanding histories of the Scottsboro cases:

    Dan Carter, Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South
    James Goodman, Stories of Scottsboro