Scottsboro

Scottsboro, originally published in 1970, tells the riveting story of one of this country?fs most famous and controversial court cases and a tragic and revealing chapter in the history of the American South. In 1931, two white girls claimed they were savagely raped by nine young black men aboard a freight train moving across northeastern Alabama. The young men??ranging in age from twelve to nineteen??were quickly tried, and eight were sentenced to death. The age of the defendants, the stunning rapidity of their trials, and the harsh sentences they received sparked waves of protest and attracted national attention during the 1930s. In his new introduction, Carter looks back at the case from the vantage point of more than thirty-five years, asking what we have learned that is new and what relevance the story of Scottsboro still has in the twenty-first century.

Dan T. Carter is Educational Foundation Professor at the University of South Carolina.