Parallels between Scottsboro and Maycomb
To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic novel written by Harper Lee, is focused on racism that takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s, where African Americans were segregated by white men. Harper Lee said that the Scottsboro trial, which was a trial that started because of discrimination, inspired her on writing To Kill a Mockingbird. Despite the differences between the Scottsboro Boys and To Kill a Mockingbird, both of them had an impact on the racial implications and laws of the south. The Scottsboro Trials was a sad tragedy that took place in Alabama during the 1930s. While nine black youth, ages from 13 to 21, were on a train heading to Memphis, Tennessee to find a job, a fight between the nine black youths and a group of white men started. After the white men were kicked out of the train, they reported what had happened to a stationmaster, and the station master stopped the train at a town called Paint Rock. After the train stopped, a group of policed jumped on the train and arrested the nine black youths. When they are caught on the train, two white women, dressed in men’s clothes, were found hiding on the train. Then the two white women accused the nine black youths raping them without any evidence. Because raping in 1930s in the Deep South was a big crime, so many trials started. At the end, every one of the Scottsboro Boys were sentenced to death except for the youngest one, Roy Wright, who was 13 years old. The reason why the jurors did not sentence him to death is because of his age. Although he was not sentenced to death, he was still sentenced for spending his life time in jail (The Scottsboro Case (1931)) (Lanset). Maycomb, Alabama is the main setting that the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, took place. Maycomb and the Scottsboro Trials are similar because they both relate to the discrimination between African Americans and white men. It was Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape by a white woman, just as the Scottsboro Boys was, and he was