Curriculum Module for Diversity and Oppression (SW503)

Title: The Scottsboro Case: Analyzing intersecting social locations Prepared by: Hilary N. Weaver, DSW Purpose statement: SW 503, Diversity and Oppression is a foundation level course designed to help students understand the interlocking and structural nature of oppression. Within this context, this curriculum module provides content on trauma and human rights as illustrated by the case example of 9 African American teenagers accused of raping two White women in 1931. Learning objectives: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of how issues of gender, class, spiritual affiliation, and regionalism interacted with race to influence the accusations of rape. 2. Demonstrate an understanding of how the social environment, particularly the regional context and the economic context influenced the accusations of rape. 3. Demonstrate an understanding of how issues of gender, class, spiritual affiliation, and regionalism interacted with race to influence the legal proceedings and outcomes at the various trials. 4. Demonstrate an understanding of how the social environment, particularly the regional context and the economic context influenced the legal proceedings and outcomes at the various trials. 5. Demonstrate critical thinking skills to reflect on the proposition that those who feel oppressed and have experienced trauma, in an attempt to exercise what little power they feel they have, may go on to perpetrate human rights abuses and perpetuate trauma in others Required content: The class will view the film, Scottsboro: An American Tragedy. This film was part of the American Experience series developed by PBS. The following description is taken from the PBS description of the film: Film Description In March 1931, a freight train crowded with homeless and jobless hoboes left Chattanooga, Tennessee, bound for points west. A short time after it crossed into Alabama, a fight erupted between two groups of hoboes-one black and one white. The train was stopped by an armed posse in the tiny town of Paint Rock, Alabama. Before anyone knew what had happened, two white women stepped from the shadows of a boxcar to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers aboard the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century. Before it was over, the Scottsboro affair-so-named for the little Alabama town where the nine were put

on trial for their lives-would divide Americans along racial, political, and geographic lines. It would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions, and give birth to the Civil Rights Movement. But for all its historical significance, the Scottsboro story is at its core a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for their lives-and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes. Scottsboro: An American Tragedy tells this extraordinary lost story for the first time on film-from the points of view of both North and South. Viewers travel from the jails of Alabama to the salons of New York and meet a fascinating gallery of characters: the lead defendant-a defiant black man who refuses to lay down before the power of Alabama; the defense lawyer-who comes to see in the case echoes of the discrimination he has felt himself; the accuser-a poor white woman who finds in her lie a route to respectability; and the Southern judge-who risks the scorn of his beloved state to deliver justice. The filmmakers spent five years making Scottsboro: An American Tragedy-weaving together interviews of the last surviving witnesses to the trials, and never-before-seen archival footage and photos from as far away as Russia, with letters, diaries, newspaper editorials, and trial transcripts. The voices of Andre Braugher, Frances McDormand, Stanley Tucci, and Harris Yulin and others, help bring the film to life. Produced by: Daniel Anker and Barak Goodman Written and directed by: Barak Goodman Co-directed by: Daniel Anker Edited by: Jean Tsien Cinematographer: Buddy Squires Narrator: Andre Braugher
To order Scottsboro: An American Tragedy for home use, visit shopPBS.

Educators & Librarians may order Scottsboro: An American Tragedy at PBS Video. A CD of the Scottsboro soundtrack, composed by Edward Bilous, is also available at shopPBS. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is closed captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers by The Caption Center at WGBH. A special narration track is added to the series by Descriptive Video Service (DVS), a service of WGBH to provide access to people who are blind or visually impaired. The DVS narration is available on the SAP channel of stereo TVs and

VCRs. Additional funding provided by the Alabama Humanities Fund and the Southern Humanities Media Fund.

Class outline: In preparation for watching the film prompt the students to challenge themselves to look beyond what initially seems like a Black/White issue and look for dimensions of the story that relate to gender, class, spiritual affiliation, and regionalism. Mention to the class that the film contains brief images that are very shocking (i.e., pictures of lynchings) Show the film. Allow time for students to share their reactions to the film. Depending on time constraints and instructor preference it may be helpful to process questions in small groups or through a Blackboard assignment. If using small groups, assign each group one of the following clusters of questions. Likewise, individuals responding to this content in a lab assignment should respond to one of the clusters of questions. Students may be allowed to respond to the question of their choice.

Questions: 1. In the film, various Southerners express the opinion that since the Civil War and Reconstruction they have felt oppressed and disenfranchised by the North; that they were somehow junior partners in the American experiment. Could this be interpreted as oppression resulting in trauma? How might the sense of disenfranchisement of poor, Southern Whites have supported the creation and institutionalization of Jim Crow laws? Might it be argued that Southerners feeling oppressed by the North acted out of their own sense of trauma and oppression thus leading to institutionalized oppression of African Americans and a climate that supported racially based hatred and violence? Discuss. 2. Describe the human rights issues as they are experienced by various entities in the films. While the human rights issues for African Americans in the Southern US in the 1930s are clearly articulated, what other human rights issues do you see? For example, how do issues of poverty and gender relate to human rights in this case? 3. Describe the issues of trauma depicted in the case. In your analysis be sure to reflect on the on-going impact of trauma (i.e., what was the impact of the false allegations and years on death row on the African American men even after their release?). What was the impact of the Great Depression on causing or exacerbating trauma?

4. Discuss the complexities of identifying who has power and privilege in the case. How might feelings of powerlessness lead to abuse of power? How does this connect to issues of trauma and human rights? If using these questions for a graded assignment via Blackboard or a comparable medium, post the questions after the class has seen the film and had time for in-class processing of the material. Give students one week and ask them to choose one of the questions to answer. Responses should typically be 1-2 pages. To complete the assignment they must also respond to at least 2 postings submitted by other students. This Blackboard lab is graded on a 0-5 scale: 0 = didnt complete the assignment, 1-2 partially complete the assignment, 3-4 adequately completed the assignment, 5 = outstanding work that exceeded assignment requirements.