Atlanta Daily World

MUST THEY DIE

On August 31, unless there be intervention partaking of the nature of a miracle, two of the Scottsboro boys will go to their deaths by order of the State of Alabama. That, despite all the evidence tending to show the complete innocence of the Scottsboro boys which has been presented the Alabama courts, and, may it be added, ignored by the Alabama courts, seems incredible in the alleged home of the brave and land of the free. Certainly it is no brave gesture on the part of the state of Alabama to send those boys to their deaths merely to maintain certain Nordic traditions of the Southland, or to avoid admitting that there has been a grave miscarriage of justice. No person with an open mind who has followed the Scottsboro case can doubt that the nine boys accused of an offense against two white girls (both girls denied the boys had bothered them) are helpless tools in the relentless arm of modern American civilization. Thus we are presented with the horrid spectacle of hate, bigotry and cruelty parading under the juster mantle of justice. Everyone, it seems, knows the Scottsboro boys are guiltless, yet the thing goes on like the depredation of some imbecile whom no one wants to stop because it makes no difference, or stupidity. Pleas have been made to President Roosevelt, but to no avail. If ever a case needed presidential intervention, this is one. It is bad enough for lawless mobs to lynch people but for the courts to do practically the same thing is a severe blow to American ideal, and culture if there be such a thing.