Theme Of Injustice In The Scottsboro Boys

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, based her book off the Scottsboro trial, a great American Tragedy. There are many similarities between the two -  from setting, the accused, the defendants, and the cases themselves.  When you delve a little deeper, these two stories, fiction and nonfiction, are greatly intertwined.

Each element gave the stage a different feel that matched every scene , complementing each brilliantly. The only element that lacked for me was lights, although very bright ; in my opinion the reoccurring blue wasn't the best option. I feel if the lighting designer would have had more warmer colored lights against the already vibrant set pieces, it would have made the stage pop more. But one thing i did particularly fancy, were the costumes the characters wore and how they fit each character. Each character's’ costume showed the dichotomy between the personalities and tastes of each individual. For example Ilona played by Jane Krakowski was dressed in a scarlet / pinkish dress with a high slit up the left side; showing her seductive character type. Meaning when i saw Ilona on stage, I immediately knew who i was looking at . Lastly the sound effects included , like the door jingle sound or The bike bell , added to the whole idea of being inside and outside of a retail building. These effects gave the stage an outdoorsy feel , drawing you in , giving the audience illusions of really being in 1930’s

On February 26th 2016, I went out with my friend to saw this event. It was the first time of my life to be in such production. I was not a fan of theaters. I thought they are boring. Now, my mind has changed because the play was amazing. So, on the next day,

Boarding the train from Chattanooga to Memphis seems like an innocent thing to do (“UMKC” par. 2). For the Scottsboro boys, boarding that train was one of the worst things they could have done. Two dozen whites and black road the train that day, and within the first

The Scottsboro boys trial took place in March of 1931, a trial that was dictated by race and not by actions. The accusations were faulty, as was the evidence. Yet the boys were all sentenced for death or life imprisonment. The trial was unfair at least, the nine black boys were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They followed the steps on how to get an audience attention when telling a story or doing a presentation. First, they told us what they are going to do which was to kill the king, and how they are going to do it, and lastly why they did it. One thing I found really successful was even though the play was really comical the actors were able to keep the storyline in a way that I could understand. The show kept me on edge, it kept me wondering what craziness is going to happen next. Although the show was really comical it also had a lot of life lessons that I learned. Firstly, one thing I learned from watching the performance is that” Once a traitor always a traitor.” In the show, there was a guy that plotted a coup with a soldier so they could overthrow the king so that soldier “ “captain Bondure” could take over. In the end, the traitor ended up betraying the soldier and stole the crown. The second thing I learned from this performance is never let anything bring you down no matter what the circumstances are. In the case of Ubu Roi, the princess lost her dad. Then her mom died right in her hands while they were on the run hiding in a cage. She never gave up on her idea to revenge her families’ death.

And the picture of you that was out front with all the casting actors, wow you looked gorgeous! Once again I was extremely impressed by the stage design. The back Catholic Church wall was such an amazing structure. The paint and texture that was used to build the wall, gave off the appearance of a real stone wall. The wall design was flawless, and the size and scale it in which it was done in is astounding! Ms. Livingstone office was also well placed; it kept a focus point to the center of the room. The decision to go with a see through glass desk and small offices chairs allow the stage space to seem larger and didn’t block or hide when the actors sat down or walked around the desk. The area with the steps that lead to Mother Ruth desk was also well crafted, but I felt it was not utilized enough. It was barley used and wasn’t sure if it was Mother Ruth office or apart of the church altar. The church pew was a nice addition as well. I was also really impressed with the lighting effects, especially from the church windows. I first thought the stained glassed windows were fixed lights that couldn’t be changed, but once Livingstone took center stage and began to speak the colors changed to a red color (I think). When that happened it felt like the world froze in place while she spoke, and resuming when the light turned back to a bright morning light. I also liked how the lights would change throughout the play to set a different mood. For example, when Ms. Livingstone was hypnotizing Agnes, she told Agnes to imagine herself being in water all of the sudden the room color was

Can anyone truly be sure if what a person is saying is the truth if there isn’t proof to show it? This question is one of the many jurors have to ask themselves while making decisions in cases with purely circumstantial evidence. On March 25th 1931, Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris, Andy Wright, Roy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Willie Roberson, Charles Weems, Eugene Williams, and Olen Montgomery- also known as the Scottsboro boys, were charged with rape by Victoria Price and Ruby Bates. The girls claimed to have been raped by the Scottsboro boys after fighting broke out between them and a group of white men. The alleged crime happened on a train, during that time period hoboing- travelling by train in search of jobs, was incredibly popular. Key witnesses to this trial were the Scottsboro boys, the 15 white men on the train, Dr. R. R. Bridges- the doctor who examined the women after the alleged rape, and the eyewitness Ory Dobbins. The final verdict in the trial let four of the Scottsboro free while four were sentenced to serve in prison for a long period of time and one was sentenced to death (The Trials of "The Scottsboro Boys": An Account, Linder). The Scottsboro boys trial was unfair and biased due to public, media, jury bias, incorrect trial proceedings, and finally witness bias.

The Scottsboro boys were nine African American teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women on a train in Alabama during the year 1931. No crime in American history that never occurred has produced as many trials, convictions, and retrials as the alleged gang rape of two white girls by nine black teenagers did. This tragedy marks a time in the United States where African Americans were not receiving the right to a fair trial and encountering racism because of their skin color. This court case is seen as one of the major examples that one innocent person or in this case many innocent people have been convicted and punished for a crime they did not commit.

The Scottsboro Boys case took place at the Scottsboro, Alabama town on March 25, 1931. This case had involved a group of black adolescents who, after such situation was best known as the Scottsboro boys. To be specific, these boys who were involved in this case were Clarence Norris, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright, Roy Wright, Eugene Williams, Charlie Weems, Willie Robertson, Haywood Patterson, and Ozzie Powell. These guys were unfairly judged to have raped two white girls. While these teenagers were falsely accused of a crime that had never met, the case had become one of the most controversial, and complex instance in the United States history.

During the early nineteen hundreds many people especially in the south were often convicted of crimes for no other reason than their skin color and contrary to many ideas about our court system, we have not always been the most honest and unbiased people. One prime example of this is the case of the Scottsboro Boys and how they were accused of rape and had to go to court numerous times, almost everytime ending in the death sentence. The evidence in the case clearly points towards the innocence of the Scottsboro boys, evidence such as unclear stories from the girls, lack of bruises and marks indicating assault as well as a previous history of prostitution from both of the girls. This evidence helps to prove that Charles Weems and the Scottsboro boys were innocent and wrongly accused and convicted.

In the mid 1900’s segregation was at its peak. White males would be prejudice over Black males. They had different schools, developments, and transportation for each color. The more dominant color of white men and women would get the nicer facilities. White children would not talk to black children or play with them. Although they were all people they were not seen as equals. The Scottsboro Trials are an example of how everybody’s views on society were biased towards the fact the whites were greater than blacks. Nine black men were accused of rape by two white women while riding a freight train departing from Paint Rock, Tennessee for Memphis, Tennessee.

In chapter seven of Criminal Courts discusses defense attorneys with addition to a section over indigent rights. More importantly it talks about the court case Powell v. Alabama, “The Court concluded that given the seriousness of the charges and the special circumstances present, the lack of counsel denied the defendants due process under the law… Established a right to appointed counsel in capital cases, it did not require counsel to be appointed in noncapital state prosecutions so long as the proceedings were not fundamentally unfair (Criminal Courts, 2017, p. 193). In the documentary over the case we see multiple times that the boys were not properly represented in a court of law in respect to counsel.

Throughout history, it can be seen that the influence of fear far surpasses that of reason in controlling the actions of people, leading to destructive outcomes. In the Scottsboro Boys interracial rape case in Alabama in 1931, several Black teenagers were deemed guilty in every trial, even though during a retrial one of the two white victims admitting to fabricating the rape story. Additionally, in the 1948 case of the “Scottsboro Boys of the North” or the Trenton 6, a jury convicted six Black men who did not even match eyewitness descriptions, sentencing them to death. Such unreasonable decisions were made due to the widespread Jim Crow laws in that era and in fear that society would change in the already unsure future, since it was

Throughout the play, I enjoyed the role of music used to set a comic atmosphere and replace the dialogs during comic scenes (e.g. when they chase each other around). I also thought that they made a good use of light to indicate the moment of the day the scene was happening or to set the atmosphere of the scene (e.g. pink colour during the romantic moments). Lastly, I liked the way the play ended. Even though it was a little messy with everyone running after each other off and on stage, and this policeman coming out of nowhere, which really surprised me; I couldn’t think of a better way to end the play.