In this Book
- Black Communists Speak on Scottsboro: A Documentary History
- Book
- 2007
- Published by: Temple University Press
summary
On March 25, 1931, Alabama police detained nine young African AMerican men at a railroad stop not far from Scottsboro. In the process, they encountered two white women -- who promptly accused the young men of raping them. Soon after, all-white juries found the nine youths guilty and eight of them were sentenced to death. Although many Americans were outraged by the injustices of the case, the loudest voices raised in protest were those of members of the American Communist Party.
Many white Communists spoke out, but black Communists took the lead in organizing public protests and legal responses. As this surprising book makes clear, they were acting at the direction of the Communist International (Comintern), which had directed them to address the "Negro problem." Now, with the opening of formerly inaccessible Communist party archives, this collection of primary documents reveals the little-known but major roles played by black Communists in the case of "the Scottsboro Boys."
Many white Communists spoke out, but black Communists took the lead in organizing public protests and legal responses. As this surprising book makes clear, they were acting at the direction of the Communist International (Comintern), which had directed them to address the "Negro problem." Now, with the opening of formerly inaccessible Communist party archives, this collection of primary documents reveals the little-known but major roles played by black Communists in the case of "the Scottsboro Boys."
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- pp. vii-ix
- “They Shall Not Die!”
- pp. 28-56
- A Call to Millions
- pp. 57-83
- Harry Haywood Speaks
- pp. 84-98
- William Patterson Speaks
- pp. 99-120
- Monitoring the Case
- pp. 121-134
- Following Through
- pp. 135-151
- Profiles of Black Communists
- pp. 155-157
- Selected Bibliography
- pp. 183-187
Additional Information
ISBN
9781592135998
Related ISBN(s)
9781592135974, 9781592135981
MARC Record
OCLC
244301834
Pages
210
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2007