USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -She died in 1982. At the time she accused three black young men of raping her, Ruby Bates was seventeen years old. She lived, like Victoria Price, in a poor neighborhood of Huntsville and worked in the mills.

Detailed explanation-2: -The so-called ‘Scottsboro boys’ – ranging in age from 12 to 19 – were entitled to an attorney under Alabama law because the charges carried a death sentence, but none came forward until the morning of trial, which occurred six days after the arraignment.

Detailed explanation-3: -The youngest of the Scottsboro defendants, Roy Wright was interviewed by the New York Times while he awaited his trial in juvenile court. At the initial trial, Roy testified that he had seen some of the other defendants rape the two girls, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1940, Bates moved to Washington state, where she married. She returned to Alabama in the 1960’s. She died on October 27, 1976 at age sixty-three.

Detailed explanation-5: -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. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial.