Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ut-sally.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!cord!hudson!ihnp1!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!amd!pesnta!hplabs!hao!seismo!ut-sally!riddle From: riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) Newsgroups: net.politics,net.misc Subject: Southern Poverty Legal Center / Klanwatch Project Message-ID: <385@ut-sally.UUCP> Date: Wed, 5-Dec-84 12:49:29 EST Article-I.D.: ut-sally.385 Posted: Wed Dec 5 12:49:29 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 7-Dec-84 05:38:30 EST Followup-To: net.politics Distribution: na Organization: U. of Tx. at Houston-in-the-Hills Lines: 41 Xref: watmath net.politics:6125 net.misc:7090 Because of the magazines I subscribe to and the charities I've given money to, I get an awful lot of direct-mail appeals for contributions from all sorts of political and social action groups. I generally dislike responding to such solicitations, partly because of the disgustingly low level to which even reputable organizations stoop when they're after my money, but occasionally among the junk is something which arouses my curiosity. One such piece of mail arrived this week from an outfit I'd like to know more about. It is the "Southern Poverty Law Center/Klanwatch Project," run out of Montgomery, Alabama, by an attorney named Morris Dees. The envelope contained the usual form letter and obligatory note from a movie star (this one: Gregory Peck) begging for money, as well as a rather lurid photograph of a young black man who was recently lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan. In addition there was an offprint of a May, 1984 Newsweek article about Dees' work in opposing the Klan. According to the article, Dees has been suing Klan members in civil courts and using subpoenas to go after testimony and evidence which Federal investigators can't or won't pursue, then turning his findings over to prosecutors for use in criminal cases. (The Newsweek article didn't explain why civil suits and subpoenas are effective when ordinary criminal investigations aren't.) Dees' own letter also mentions educational work and a film and newsletter on the Klan which he distributes to community groups and law enforcement agencies. Looking beyond the fundraising gimmickry, this sounds very good, but I'll admit that I'd like to know more. I certainly think that the Klan deserves much more effective prosecution than it has received in cases where it has actually committed acts of violence and terror; at the same time, though, I know that there are groups opposing the Klan who sometimes seem to contribute to the problem more than they help to solve it by rivaling the Klan itself in their militancy and violent rhetoric. (I'm thinking of the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee, for instance). So I'd like to know: has anyone out there heard of Morris Dees, the SPLC or the Klanwatch project? What do you think of them? Please reply to me by mail. If there's any interest, I'll summarize. Oh, and for those of you who are curious and would like to contact the SPLC directly, the address is: SPLC, 1001 South Hull St., Montgomery, AL 36195. --- Prentiss Riddle ("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.") --- {ihnp4,harvard,seismo,gatech,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddle