Moris Dees Comes to Sonoma State

Morris Dees was the son of an Alabama farmer, and the grandson of the KKK. He was an owner of a publishing company and went to law school at UA. He was part of some small cases that had to do with civil rights issues. He was bothered by the fact that Washington D.C. creates the legislation, but other states do not cooperate. He had not been directly involved until he was snowbound in Cincinnati Airport. He had an epiphany, which lead him to change his life. He sold his company and became an advocate of social justice issues. He founded the Southern Poverty Law Center and has won several awards. He is known for his legal pursuit of the Ku Klux Klan. He won so many lawsuits the KKK had to sell off some of their property, he bankrupted the KKK.

I liked the fact that the first thing he did was take off his coat and tie. There are 165 people that work in the center, several hundred students, 29 lawyers, educators, writers, and investigators. The work would not be possible without the 300,000 people who contribute throughout the United States. He went to school in a small three room school and he had the same teacher who taught his entire family. His mentor believed that you should not smoke, and that you should not drink alcohol.

He grew up with Martin Luther King who preached at a church near his house. Dr. King ensured that America lived up to its promise of equality. "He had to face people who had no vision; he had to face politicians with no background, and finally he had to face a terrorist of no conscience." Dr. King believed in liberty and justice for all in the economy as well, providing the garbage workers strike as an example. Right before he died, he said "I see the promise land, I might not get there with you, but you will."

He points out that this is the first time in history that we have had a black man and a woman running for president. He asks if we can build a bridge across this "river", and take advantage of what Dr. King talked about. He dreams of a day in which people can be judged on only the content of their character. He does not think we can rise above the prejudice we have of character and race.

We need to overcome several barriers, one of which is trust. He says that in election campaigns we often try to undermine the trust of the candidates. For example, when John Kerry was running for President, and they were trying to point out that he was not a war hero. For example, the media tries to point out that Obama's middle name is Hussain. Those against either candidate want us to not trust them.

He states that McCain calls Latinos the "Sharecroppers of the 21^st century", stating that the economy flourishes due to the 13 million Latinos who work the fields. He states that "change causes enormous fear" and that there are currently 875 hate groups in this country, which is a 40 percent increase since 2000. The future of our country depends on the willingness to share power. Approximately 50 percent of the population is women, yet the only presidents have been male Christians. The most abstract has been an Irish American. There is a fear of sharing power with someone who is different than us.

There are 50,000 Vietnamese immigrants who settled in Texas. There were more than 500,000 brought into the country. These people just had the clothes on their back and just went to work. They began taking over the food, fish, and meat markets as well as other things. They bought broken boats and began to repair them. Soon they began competing with American fisherman, who became jealous. The Americans tried to have the government stop giving licenses to the Vietnamese; the government did not pass the law. They then began to call the Ku Klux Klan for help, and terrorized the Vietnamese immigrants. He says that America has laws to protect the minority from the majority. The judge issued court marshals to patrol the harbor, so the immigrants could find a place on America's table.

He brings up the idea of the 700 mile fence to be put up on the border. He notes that even when the Irish came here, they faced much resistance. One of his key points is that they speak a different language, steal American jobs, and bring disease. These are some of the same things that we talk about today with other ethnic groups. He notes that the new president will be a signifier of change. He says that America is a great nation, but it does not belong to a single group of people.

Dees states that if we are going to build bridges along the things that divide our country, we need to learn to care about and love people who are different than we are. He says 12 million African Americans are treated less than lower class. He says that we have no inherent right and that we have to earn it.