"Scottsboro Boys" Pardon Date Set for November 21, 2013 in Montgomery

Three of the Scottsboro Defendants are scheduled to be pardoned on November the 21st in Montgomery, Alabama. Scottsboro's Daily Sentinel ( http://thedailysentinel.com/ )  reports in todays paper that three of the defendants are eligible for the parole; those named are "Haywood Patterson, Charley Weems and Andy Wright are to be pardoned in accordance with the Scottsboro Boys Act. " Clarence Norris was pardoned by Gov. George Wallace in 1976. Four of the defendants were exonerated in 1937. (pictured below)

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Jul 26, 1937- Titled "Enjoying Their Freedom." Byline on reverse of photo reads: Samuel Liebowitz and the 4 youths he defended in the famed Scottsboro case wave farewell as they leave for New York after viewing a movie at Cincinnati. Those freed are Eugene Williams, Roy Wright, Willie Roberson and Olen Montgomery. (original press photo owned  by G. Morgan purchased from Historical Images-Memphis, Tn. May 9, 2012)

"The Scottsboro Boys Petition": http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/assets/pdf/DS213028107.pdf

Clarion's coverage: http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7210:pardons-granted-to-three-scottsboro-boys&catid=42:clarion-rotation-stories&Itemid=142

"The Scottsboro Boys all eventually left prison, but only one — Clarence Norris — received a pardon in his lifetime...Dan Carter, a professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina who wrote a history of the case in 1970 [titled "Scottsboro, an American Tradgedy"had this to say]...Carter said he had "ambivalent feelings" about the posthumous pardon process. On the one hand, the historian said racial reconciliation was impossible "without facing up to the past." But Carter said unduly focusing on the past can distract from problems of the present." http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/16/scottsboro-boys-pardon/2820449/

NOT ENOUGH! I agree with Mr. Carter, this is not enough! Race Relations Education must be taught in our schools if we are to make definitive strides in ending racism. There is no effort to facilitate a race relations education program. There is no effort to correct the disparity of African Americans in our prisons. It is my opinion that this action was a glory grab by politicians and individuals who were out for self promotion.

Racism is a personal and institutional sickness which many are in denial. White folks and political leaders today cannot wash their hands of the racial injustice that occurred in Jim Crow America. Racism is still alive and well today in Alabama and across our nation. This is why it is vitally important that a comprehensive program of race relations education be implemented within Alabama.

WHITE GUILT? In the eyes of white politicians this is their answer-a PARDON for the deceased defendants, victims of racism and Jim Crow injustice.. I wonder if this pardon is subconsciously an effort to pardon themselves. This pardon process is woefully short of the answer to a growing problem of  racial and sexual discrimination practiced today in our nation, including current Alabama politicians.

"NEVER TO LATE FOR JUSTICE: Bro. Clarence Norris Jr., son of Scottsboro Boy Clarence Norris Sr., Speaks Out on The Scottsboro Boys' Pardon and Exoneration..."
4/19/2013




A comprehensive report on The Scottsboro Boys Trials 1931-1937 by Professor Douglas Linder  http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley Ceremoniously Signs Scottsboro Boys Pardon at the Museum in Scottsboro

The Scottsboro Defendants with their Attorney Samuel Liebowitz. Alabama National Guard flank the defendants on the left and right. University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law presentation of the case which changed American Jurisprudence: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm

 

AP-Video: The Scottsboro Boys Pardon, Decades in the Making

 

 

"The governor officially signed Senate Bill 97, legislation that allows for posthumous pardons, on April 11 so it could meet its deadline. The defendants known as the Scottsboro Boys still have to be officially pardoned by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. The governor also signed House Joint Resolution 20, a resolution sponsored by Representative John Robinson that formally exonerates the Scottsboro Boys." http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6082:governor-bentley-signs-legislation-exonderating-the-scottsboro-boys&catid=42:clarion-rotation-stories&Itemid=142

 

Huntsville Times - Al.com:

"SCOTTSBORO, Alabama - Nine boys lined the center aisle of Joyce Chapel United Methodist Church, each waiting his turn to walk to the alter rail.
One-by-one the black youths moved forward, some shuffling their feet, nervous at the thought of speaking in front of so many people, others stepping confidently to the task at hand.
At the rail, each would light one of nine white candles, then turn to the people crowding the pews and announce in whose memory it was lit." http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/04/the_black_and_white_of_the_sco.html

"Clarence Norris Jr. was able to fill in some pieces of his childhood this morning when Gov. Robert Bentley signed historic legislation posthumously exonerating the nine young men known as the Scottsboro Boys, one of whom was Norris' father, a man he never knew." http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/04/post_1132.html

(Fair Use - educational not for profit)"al.com" photo by/Bob Gathnay

Slide Show of event: http://photos.al.com/huntsville-times/2013/04/scottsboro_boys_legislation_1.html

 

Early Scottsboro Boys Museum history photo-video

 

(Photo video by Garry Morgan)

Video of the Pardon Event


(You Tube video by Left in Alabama)

Scottsboro Boys Pardon Likely to be Signed This Week (In Scottsboro?) An Example of "White Guilt" or Republican Grandstanding?

{fair use-Gov Bentley's Face Book photo, cropped)

 

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is likely to sign Scottsboro Boys Pardon this week in Scottsboro sources report.

Update Apr 13, 2013: Scottsboro's Daily Sentinel reports Gov. Bentley will be in Scottsboro Thursday, Apr. 18 to ceremoniously sign the bill. The local paper also reports Jesse Jackson may also be in town for the signing.

 

"Jeremy King, a spokesman for Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, said he expects the bill to be signed this week allowing the posthumous pardons, reversing convictions that became a symbol of racial injustice in a case that led to the end of black exclusion from juries in the South." http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-08/alabama-pardons-scottsboro-boys-82-years-after-injustice.html

 

(photo, fair use - http://wowcatherine.tumblr.com/image/44615443692 )

 Director of the Scottsboro Boys Museum, Sheila Washington, announces introduction to the Scottsboro Boys Act at the Alabama Statehouse. Catherine Schreiber Productions blog: http://wowcatherine.tumblr.com/page/2  

 

Dr. Shelby Steele describes "white guilt": "Steele believes that the use of victimization is the greatest hindrance for black Americans. In his view, white Americans see blacks as victims to ease their guilty conscience, while blacks attempt to turn their status as victims into a kind of currency that will purchase nothing of real or lasting value. Therefore, he claims, blacks must stop "buying into this zero-sum game" by adopting a "culture of excellence and achievement" without relying on "set-asides and entitlements.^{" "} Steele, Shelby (2006-05-02). White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era. Harper Collins.  http://www.law.uc.edu/sites/default/files/fcj1.1.steele%20reviewed%20by%20ryan.pdf

About Dr. Steele, from Stanford University: http://www.hoover.org/fellows/10347

 

The question remains, what will the pardon act accomplish; does it create a race relations education program in the state; does it provide adequate criminal indigent defense funding? The answer is no.

http://arklite.blogspot.com/2012/12/watch-for-snakes-particularly-in-our.html

 

Alabama Republicans claim they know what is best for women: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/02/07/1552611/alabama-trap-laws/?mobile=nc

 

Will Alabama Republicans continue their efforts to destroy the Voting Rights Act and Public Education, the great equalizer, in Alabama?

Civil Rights Attorneys file suit to protect Voting Rights: http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/projects/voting_rights/page?id=0073