USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Scottsboro Boys were nine African American teenagers and young men, ages 13 to 20, accused in Alabama of raping two white women in 1931.

Detailed explanation-2: -That drama revolved around nine Black youths charged with raping two white girls on a freight train in Alabama. The youths became known as the Scottsboro Boys, and the case became a window into the South’s unremittingly brutal system of justice.

Detailed explanation-3: -Haywood Patterson, Olen Montgomery, Clarence Norris, Willie Roberson, Andy Wright, Ozzie Powell, Eugene Williams, Charley Weems and Roy Wright were searching for work when a racially-charged fight broke out between passengers.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Scottsboro defendants were ultimately saved from execution, but they languished in prison for years. Even after being released, most never fully recovered from their ordeal. Their story has rightly been called ‘an American tragedy.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Alabama Legislature passed a resolution recom-mending a posthumous pardon for all the defendants against whom charges were not dismissed. Legislators also passed a resolution declaring all nine Scottsboro Boys to be innocent.