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Five years fter th treet of Dec tur,
bama erupted in violence during -
peaceful prote t march by the Southern
Christian Le dership Conference (SCLC),
a federal grand jury indicted 10 Ku ux
&'-MIUll.wilien uspected of being responsible
for t cking the m rcher.
Ten member of the AI bam
including som top officials, have been
char d ith federal civil right violations
in connection ith their rol in th
y 26, 1979 confrontation ith SCLC
protest marcher .
Tb pr ident of the SCLC, Rev.
Jo ph E. Lowery, called th indictment
"..... a elcom rust ep in hat we
hope will be justice meted out for thi
murdero ult on peaceful demo tra-
tors."
I Five Klansmen were charged with con­
pirin to ob ruet an FBI inve tigation.
One Klansman w charged parately
d immedi tely p e ded guilty to con­
ir cy. All ten ere accu d of arming
emselve with guns and clubs on
y 26, 1979, and driving into Decatur
behind a pic -up truck carrying an effigy
of Blac man suspended from a hang­
man' noo .
• e had sent telegr ms urging the
U. S. Justice D partment to pursue the
and not let th atue of limitation
run out", hich ould have been ay
1984, nine days after the indictment
were ctually handed down, aid Lowery.
• e commend the Justice Department
for pur uing the indictment," th civil
right le der ide
T scene of the bloody clash was in a
Decatur busin di rict. The violence
bro e out h n bout 200 marc er , pro­
te ting the 30-year sentence of a retarded
Blac man convicted of raping a white
oman.
en police tried to clear aw y
hooded Klansmen the marchers could
p , vera! of the Klansmen ran to their
car , got out guns and started shooting.
As the bullet began to fly, t 0 Bl c
in the march, Bernice Bro n and Larry
Lee Smith, fell ounded ith gunshot to
the head. One ansman s shot in the
ch t, pparently by a police officer, and
another Klansman w hit in the leg after
being c ught in the ero rue between the
Klan .and police.
fl. Evelyn Lowery, ife of Rev.
Lo ery, n rrowly escaped death hen
the car she as driving, trailing the
marchers, a hit by at le t two bullet.
One shattered the windshield and mi d
her head by only a fe inches.
The indictment id the Klan members
planned their acitvities in veral meetings
during the thr days before the ttack.
On th day before the att ck, the indict­
ment y veral Klansmen spo e bout
the p an at a klavern meeting in Cullman
and u le Shoals, Alabama. One of the
indicted ansm n, who's alre dy pleaded
guilty to conspir cy, J e Ray Mize, told
cial meeting of the Graysville,
Job
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I gn-up
Th ichigan Employm nt Se-
curity Commi ion ESC) is ex­
tending the appli tion period for
the ichigan Youth Corp
dditional eek, onday, Jun 18
through Friday, June 22, gi e all
eligibl young people a chance to
pply, S. rtin Taylor, S
dir tor, announced.
To qualify for the Youth. Corp
y ung p ople mu t be unemployed
ichi n re ident, 18 to 21
year old.
a
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Alabam k vern that the Klan planned to
stop the marchers from re ching Decatur
City Hall.
Federal prosecutor are hoping to con­
vince a jury th t thoi meetings were part
of an organized conspiracy to op the
civil rights march. 80 ever, that con­
spir cy m y have been even more sinister .
than just disrupting the march.
Sa d on information received prior to
o dered an ' . ation attenf{,t on the
live of Rev. Lo ery, SCLC Field Secre­
tary, R. B. Cottonre der and AIabam
SCLC Vice-Pre 'dent, John ettles.
Lo ery said that one hour before the
march, De refOrters informed him of
Klan conver tion picked up over the
'�B" radio tying th Y ould "get
Lo ery!".
Th SCLC- ponsored march as to
protest the conviction and 30-year sen­
tence given to Tommy Lee Hin s, a ver­
ly retarded Blac man, for the rape of a
white woman. According to p 0 on aff,
Hines' mental age range i r ted t three
year, ix months; hi ability for general
comprehension at four year, and his
judgement and reasoning as defective
even for a four year old. He was 0
judged to not have the motor skills to
ride a bicycle, yet the rape victim claimed·
Hin drove a car aero town. Hines' con­
viction was overturned on appeal and at a
retrail, he wa declared mentally imcom­
petent and nt to a state hospital for
treatment, where he till re ides.
The indictment is heralded by many.
Among tho pr ising the decision by the
grand jury i the founder of the Southern
Po erty La Center and Klanwatch pro-
tgomery, ooris Dees, who
dictment, "They got th
leader . This is the largest indictment of
Klan leader ever. In the past, it wa
rno y the rank and me who were
indicted. "
ant Attorney General, William
Bradford .Reynolds, head of the Justice
Department's Civil Right Division, said
the c demonstrates his department's
"unyielding commitment to use all fed­
eral la s available .to us to pro cute
tho who engage in racial violence."
To
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A national conference on i ue facing
B ck dministr tor at predominantly
hite colleges and uni ersities will be
held at the Ma chusett Institute of
Techonology June 21-24.
ore than 800 people are expected
to attend the conference which will
include college pre ident , vice president ,
deans, dmi ion nd financial aid offi­
cer, tudent affair directors, and other
college admini tr tors as ell faculty
member busin and corporate officer,
government or er and interested
other.
Dr. John B. Turner, ociate dean of
the graduate hool and a _ tant provost
at .I.T., and Dr. Clarence G. Williams,
special as istant to the president at
.I.T., are conference coordinators and
co-chairmen of the ational Advisory
Committee of the sociation of Black
Administrators at .I.T., the organiza-
tion convening the conference.
In letter mailed to colle gue at
hundred of college aero s th nation
they said that the conferenc will provide
a forum ith a national '0 "for candid
di cu ion and h larly pre nt tion n
JU 20 - 26,1
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Con pir cy to violate the federally
protected rihgts of civil right march r is
punish ble by 10 years in prison and a
$10000 fine. Conspir cy to ob truct a
criminal investigation is puni ble by a
five year prison ntence and _a $10,000
fine.
Trial is tentatively scheduled for the
fi eek in July before U: S. D' trict
Judge Robert B. Prop .
B ck Federal Judge U. . Clemen,
th former SCLC attorney, who wa chief
counsel handling the ccessful appeal of
Hine ' 30-year prison ntence, excu d
him If from the trails and had it re-
igned.
.... THE CITIZEN PAGE THREE
In a ritten tement Clemen ·,"1
emph tically reject the notion th t the
impartiality of a BI c jud e i i f: to
r sonably que tionab in y in
which alleged white r cist are in 01 ed a
partie .tt
Clemon cited his p in olvment ith
Hine , and the fact authoriti told him in
1979 that h w on the hit Ii t ith
Lo ery. Cottonreader and ett
factors in the deci 0 on to disqualify
If.
"Under the circumstance 1 kno
them, a reasonable per n wou d bor
doubts concerning by bility to impartial-
ly preside over thi ," Clemon id.
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variety of 0 ue that are of direct
concern to both Black and white admini­
strators aero the country. We are de p­
ly concerned about the declining num­
bers of Black professionals on white
campuse and the apparent erosion of
Black program and the gains made in the
'70's. It is tim to put our is ues and
concerns back on the table for discussion
and action!"
Drs. Turner and Williams said that
succe of the first conference two year
ago showed that Black profe ional
administrators "have become aware that
no public forum currently exists to
addre common issue that are unique
to the Blac administrator at a largely
white college or univer ity."
. Among the e is�ues are the declining
presenc of Black faculty members,
students, and administrator on white
campu es, up ard mobility, inter ction
with white colleagues and Blac collea­
gue, upervision of hite staff members
respondin to the needs of Black stu­
dent , interacting with Bla in tituti ns, •
dealing ith tre cmd bro denin creer
altern tives,
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M.I.l.
con' r nc
A special feature at this year' con­
ference is a pane, of college pre 'dent
who will discu ho they have developed
Black leadership on their campu
The pane] moderator will be Dr. Paul E.
Gray, president of .I.T. Others 0 the
panel will be Dr. Colin G. Campbell
president, Wesleyan University; Dr. J el
Plummer Cobb, president, California
State College, Fullerton; Dr. John A.
DiBiaggio, president University of Con­
n cticut; Dr. Joseph . Hankin, presi­
dent, Westchester Community Coli e
.Y., and Dr. Ira ichael Hyman,
chancellor, University of California,
Berkeley.
Dr. Gray id that MIT i "deli hted to
ho t the Second ationaJ Conference on
Issue F cing Black Adrninistr tor at
Predominantly hite Colleges and ni-
ver itie . e thi conference 3 an
important tep toward build in profes-
ional n twork amon Blac and hite
coli ues in diver po ition f res­
pon ibility in hool throu hout the