BDC CH. 7 Flashcards
When did the Scottsboro Affair begin?
March 23, 1931
- during downward plunge of Great Depression
- people began living in “Hoovervilles” (shantytowns) in run down parts of cities
- people began roaming land for food/work
- many traveled on foot/rode rails illegally (jumped on/off moving trains)
(DPPM)
What was the Scottsboro Boys case?
- black/white boys got into fight on train from Chattanooga to Memphis
- whites that were thrown off train went to nearest station saying they were attacked unprovoked
- sheriff searches train + hauls black boys off to Jackson County Jail
- white women on train falsely claimed black boys raped them
- punishment was typically death by either execution/lynching
(BWSWP)
What did Alabama Governor Benjamin Miller do to prevent a mass lynching of the Scottsboro Boys as they headed to Scottsboro?
dispatched militiamen units to Scottsboro
- this type of action had brought sharp decline in lynching since 1920
What was the result of the court trial for the Scottsboro Boys?
- all 9 except 13 year old found guilty
- sentenced the 8 boys to death
AS
What were some factors of the Scottsboro case that lent it to be an unfair trial?
- boys lawyers had no time to prepare a defense
- Judge showed obvious sympathy for girls
- trial concluded in only four days
- guilty verdicts flew in face of forensic evidence (no signs of rape on women)
(BJTG)
What was NAACP Secretary Walter White’s impression of the Scottsboro Boys case?
- was confused/pessimistic
- repelled by the status of the Scottsboro Boys
- NAACP liked to defend educated/well mannered blacks
- Scottsboro boys bad reputation prevented NAACP support
- made White cautious to support them
(WRNSM)
Who would rise to defend the Scottsboro Boys when the NAACP hesitated?
The Communist Party
- persuaded boys/their parents to let them/the Communist ILD represent them
- launched public agitation campaign to save boys
(PL)
What was Walter White’s feeling toward the Communist Party becoming involved in the Scottsboro Boys case?
appalled
- case became tug of war between two orgs.
- argued it would be suicidal to work w/ the Communists
- believed Communists were more concerned w/ discrediting “capitalist courts” than helping boys
- visited the boys/families saying not to work w/ Communists
(CABV)
What did the Scottsboro Boys decide to do after hearing White’s advice w/ the Communists?
stick w/ the Communists + ILD anyway
What were the immediate actions taken by the Communists when it came to the Scottsboro Boys?
- organized meetings + marches + petitions
- sent Scottsboro boys moms on national speaking tours
- messaged endlessly Alabama public officials
- movement spread internationally to Communist chapters (London, Berlin, Cuba, Johannesburg etc.)
(OSSM)
How did the complex nature of he Communist movement amplify its voice?
- controlled many labor unions + defense committees + cultural orgs.
- made Scottsboro campaign seem far more spontaneous than it actually was
- party directives controlled most of actions not spontaneous actions by individuals
(CMP)
Who else came in support of the Scottsboro boys besides the Communists?
- many ordinary citizens attended rallies + donated $$$ + wrote letters to officials
- artists + intellectuals + writers + scientists + politicians
(MA)
What was the result of the appeal of the Scottsboro Boys case in the Supreme Court?
Powell v. Alabama
- victorious
- Court ruled boys had been denied right to “due process” under 14th Amendment
- rescinded guilty verdicts + granted boys rights to new trials
(VCR)
Where was the second trial for the Scottsboro Boys supposed to be held?
Decatur
- Judge James Horton
- one of the most politicized trials in US history
- southern conservatism vs northern liberalism vs international communism
(JOS)
What did the Communist Party + the ILD represent to Southern whites?
everything that they hated
- culturally alien + revolutionary + militantly antiracist
- viewed their involvement as indirect attack on South’s political/economic order
(CV)
How did the Communists + ILD view the South?
- saw it as a hellhole for oppression
- dismissed the charges of black rape as a lie
- wanted black/white masses to overthrow capitalist exploiters
(SDW)
Besides the political/economic challenge brought by the Communists, what did many Southern Whites feel that the Scottsboro case represented?
defense of Southern white womanhood
- white juries rarely found blacks not guilty in rape of white women
- made the task for the defense doubly difficult
- head counsel Liebowitz didn’t help himself by questioning the testimony made by train women
(WMH)
What was the result of the Decatur trial?
found the first boy Haywood Patterson guilty
- sentenced to death
- surprisingly Judge Horton set aside conviction
- Horton deemed white woman’s testimony as unreliable + contradictory to evidence
- concluded rapes didn’t take place
(SSHC)
What was the response by Alabama authorities after Judge Horton decided not to uphold conviction of the Scottsboro Boys?
didn’t give up
- persuaded Horton to step down for other 8 trials
- replaced by Judge William Callahan
- was bias towards defense + looked for speedy conviction of boys
(PRW)
What was the result of the court cases handled by Judge Callahan?
- hostile towards Liebowitz
- didn’t allow questioning regarding train woman’s (Victoria Price) truth in testimony
- neglected to mention acquittal to jury until prompted by defense
- declared boys (Patterson + Norris) guilty + sentenced to death
(HDND)
What happened when the Supreme Court would review Judge Callahan case appeals?
Norris v. Alabama
- Liebowitz argued blacks had been purposely excluded from being on jury
- Court agreed citing clear evidence of racial discrimination
(LC)
What did Alabama prosecutors do even after the second ruling by the Supreme Court to drop the charges against four of the boys?
- still tried Patterson a fourth time
- tried Norris a third time
- tried three others a second time
- all found guilty (received different sentences)
(STTA)
How was the NAACP able to claim some credit for the limited victory of the Scottsboro boys case?
- two ILD lawyers caught trying to bribe Price
- Liebowitz insisted Communist Party bow out of case
- Scottsboro Defense Committee (SDC) thereafter organized boys defense (NAACP coalition)
(TLS)
What happened to the Scottsboro Boys once the SDC/NAACP took control of their case?
- failed to secure pardons for five of the boys
- were able to commute Norris sentence
FW
What did the Communist Party accuse the NAACP of during the Scottsboro Affair?
- bunch of bourgeoise misleaders
- allies of capitalists + enemies of working class
- said Supreme Court victories only concessions to uppity blacks (did nothing for majority)
(BAS)
What did the NAACP accuse the Communist Party/ILD of during the Scottsboro Affair?
- being more concerned w/ discrediting legal system than helping blacks
- accused of swelling party treasury by promoting case
(BA)
When did the communism first start to gain some ground in the US?
Great Depression
- class warfare rhetoric unpopular in 20s
- people began listening as more were bankrupt + starving + unemployed
- Huey Long became popular for attacking the rich
(CPH)
What did many black leaders think of the Communist Party in the US?
- not a legitimate party b/c it had no commitment to democracy/the US
- would stoop low to attract gullible blacks to join
(NW)
What was the Communist Party’s stance on racial discrimination?
highly opposed to it
- regarded blacks as natural recruits to communism
- they were already oppressed + largely propertyless
- recognized the situation of how blacks differed from white workers
- denounced racism as a capitalist device to divide working class
(RTRD)
What policies did the Communist Party adopt to attract blacks in the Deep South?
policy of national self determination
- inspired by Garvey + black nationalism in 20s
- blacks as majority in South have right to national self determination
(IB)
Why did many write off the policy of national self determination?
Stalinist dogma that flew in face of American reality
- idea that Black Belt could form together a separate black nation was ridiculous
What did the policy of self determination symbolize for blacks?
the Communist Party’s commitment to racial equality
- endowed black struggle w/ unprecedented dignity + importance
- underlined commitment by promoting blacks to leadership roles
- selected William Patterson to head the ILD
- sponsored James Ford for US Vice President (1st party to sponsor black VP)
(EUSS)
What was so appealing to blacks + idealistic whites about the Communist Party in the 30s?
only political party that took racial equality seriously
- mounted demonstrations
- formed sharecropper unions in AL + LA
- helped establish more orgs. like ILD devoted to black rights
(MFH)
What were some of the organizations established by the Communist Party that were devoted to black rights?
- National Negro Congress (NNC)
- Student Negro Youth Congress (SNYC)
- The Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW)
(NST)
What have been some of the opinions about the establishment of black rights orgs. by the Communist Party?
- some think they were just fronts created in response to COMINTERN call for antifascist forces in 1935
- some thought they were genuine orgs. not dominated by Communists
(SS)
What was the campaign launched by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in 1935?
wanted to unionize workers across blue collar industries
- AFL either relegated blacks to segregated unions/didn’t allow them at all
- CIO made it cardinal principle to organize blacks/whites together
(AC)
What reason did the CIO have for adopting an interracial approach?
- opposition of black workers would’ve been impossible to win strikes/bargaining power