Although the abolition of slavery in the South coincided with the conclusion of the Civil War, a century of institutionalized racism was widespread in the former Confederacy. This institutionalized racism came in the form of Jim Crow laws. It was a social norm to view African Americans as inferior or even harmful to the white population. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan roamed around “defending” the white population from African Americans. This defense took the form of public executions (lynching) or intimidation. Another fear that white Southerners had was the fear that black men would exploit white women. This fear led to many incarcerations and murders of falsely accused African-American men. On March 25, 1931, nine young African American boys were accused of raping two young white women on a train. These nine eventually became known as the Scottsboro Boys, named after the city where they were arrested. Although the boys had a lawyer fighting for them, the trial was over and the guilty verdict came automatically due to the Jim Crow mentality of the citizens of Alabama. The unjust trials suffered by the Scottsboro boys are the result of institutionalized racism in the South; this case revealed the injustice that prevailed in the American South. Background on the Prosecution The 1930s were a decade plagued by the colossal economic recession known as the Great Depression. With unemployment levels exceeding 20%, people were doing anything to earn money. This included traveling on railway lines to look for work in other cities. In the American South, the problems of economic recession and the problems of racial tension met in 1931 during the Scottsboro Boys court case. On March 24, 1931, nine African A...... middle of paper .... ..already had a predetermined verdict. They were automatically determined to be guilty, even though there was much evidence that they were innocent, including one of the victims (Ruby Bates) who ultimately defended the boys. In addition to all the problems this case has revealed, it has also shown that there is good in society. Faced with the possibility of death, Samuel Leibowitz still defended the Boys as much as he could. The second judge who presided over the case actually followed the law and prevented any harm from being caused to the boys. Fast forward to November 21, 2013, the state of Alabama finally pardoned the boys posthumously. (http://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2013/11/governor-bentleys-statement-pardoning-scottsboro-boys/) It took almost eighty years to do it. This shows that Alabama is finally publicly repenting for past injustices that occurred in the state.