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The Scottsboro Case

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The Scottsboro Case was the cause of a huge sensation on civil rights in the United States. On March 25, 1931 an incident that would shock the nation occurred. Nine African American males and six Caucasian males got into a fight. Two women that were on the train accused the African American males of gang rape along with assault charges from the Caucasian men. All nine African American men were brought to trial. The outcome would stun the country. Lawyer after lawyer would bail on the nine accused. Not only would their lawyers quit, but their sentencing would be changed time and time again. This trial would split the country in half and go on longer than any other trial in U.S. history.( Sorensen,6) The Scottsboro Case of 1931 had a major impact on society and on racial profiling due to how they were handled and how the judicial system failed them. In 1931, the southern states were still heavily segregated. Although African Americans had their freedom and males had the right to vote by the 14th and 15th Amendments, the south was well known for blatantly ignoring these rights. After the Civil War the south did not take their defeat very well, and they certainly did not enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments. Since they did not agree with the Constitution they created Jim Crow Laws, the grandfather clause, a literacy test, and a poll tax to deter African American males from voting. All of these made it harder than it should have been for African Americans. The Jim Crow Laws not only allowed public segregation, but supported and enforced it, this was also due to the Plessy vs. Ferguson Case, and this case allowed the completely hypocritical saying "separate but equal." Plessy vs. Ferguson Case started after because of "white only cars  on trains. Homer Plessy would lose this case and would have to pay the fine for sitting in the white section of the train instead of the colored even though he was only one eighth African. The Separate But Equal doctrine would be declared Constitutional, but only if the segregated facilities were equal, which would rarely happen. According to Leslie V. Tischauser, "the term ˜Jim Crow' refers to a series of laws and ordinances passed by Southern States and municipalities between 1877 and 1965 legalizing segregation ¦ refers to an entire way of life in which whites and blacks lived in two vastly unequal communities in the South  (Tischauser, 1). African Americans and Caucasians led very different lives socially because of these laws. Restaurants, bathrooms, hotels, and even public water fountains were segregated. This made it impossible for African Americans to assimilate into society and become just as prestigious as Caucasians. The Jim Crow Laws were validated by stating "separate but equal . This was a complete contradiction in itself, but was allowed to continue. Southern states also passed a grandfather clause. This stated that any African American man whose grandfather was a slave was void of the 15th Amendment. Southern officials did not want African Americans to be able to vote in fear that they would vote against the heavy populated Democratic South. Denying this right was Unconstitutional, but was overlooked by federal government because of the reconstruction of the country going on. One other way to strip African Americans of their 15th Amendment was to distribute a literacy test. Because most African Americans were formally slaves and were not taught to read or write under enslavement, these tests were nearly impossible for them to pass. Southern politicians

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