On March 25, 1931 in Scottsboro, Alabama, nine African
American boys were arrested and charged for gang-raping two
white girls on a train. Even though they were innocent, and
one of the girls admitted that the conviction was false,
eight of the boys were sentenced to death, and one of them
was given life imprisonment. The racial discrimination that
took place in Alabama with the Scottsboro boys and their
trial was very similar to the discrimination in the setting
of the novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, in Georgia.
The Color Purple is set in Georgia during the 1920-
1930's when racial discrimination towards blacks was at one
of its highest points. A tough and outspoken woman named
Sofia was someone who represented strength in the
community. However, when she refuses to work as a maid for
a white woman, one being the mayor's wife, the mayor
himself slaps Sofia.
King Caldwell Park, Scottsboro, Alabama
Caldwell School
English: Jackson County Courthouse in Scottsboro, ...Being rebellious in nature, Sofia
fights back, but is taken down right away, "They crack her
skull, they crack her ribs. They tear her nose loose on one
side. They blind her in one eye..." (87). The sheriffs beat
Sofia up right away and point guns to her children. She is
then arrested.
Similar to Sofia's case is the Scottsboro trial in
Scottsboro, Alabama. On a Memphis bound train, traveled
nine black youths along with two white women, Ruby Bates
and Victoria Price. Price had told the sheriff that her and
Bates had been raped by the nine young men. Twelve days
later the trial took place however, it was extremely
unfair, "Their defense attorney was an alcoholic, who was
drunk throughout the trial. The prosecutor on the other
hand, told the jury, 'Guilty or not, let's get rid of these
niggers.'"(Bienen, 49). Trials were held only to say...