Fort Collins – Hurricane Katrina ripped up homes and lives while also exposing America’s racial and economic fissures, civil-rights lawyer Morris Dees told an audience at Colorado State University on Monday night.
“If the same disaster had happened in East Hampton, N.Y., and we had lots of people huddled in homes or gymnasiums, we probably would have extricated them rather quickly,” Dees said. “We likely would have had fleets of helicopters coming to the rescue.”
Still, Dees said, it wasn’t overt racism or prejudice against the poor that caused so much misery in the aftermath of Katrina. Most low-income residents on the Gulf Coast can’t afford to live anywhere else, so they are forced to buy homes in flood plains that are the first to be swamped when floodwaters rise, Dees said.
“Katrina did sensitize the country on race and poverty,” Dees said. “So much of it is systemic and just part of our culture.”
Dees kicked off CSU’s Diversity Conference by talking about racial hatred in America to about 700 people at the Lory Student Center.
The conference, which runs through Thursday, features more than 55 workshops along with keynote addresses. All workshops and keynote addresses are free and open to the public.
Dees founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971 in Montgomery, Ala., with Joe Levin. Originally a small law office committed to equal-rights issues, the nonprofit center today is known internationally for tolerance education, legal victories against white-supremacist groups and the tracking of hate groups.
Dees was flanked by security guards at an earlier news conference, and those who came to hear him speak were searched electronically. The precautions are customary for Dees, who is routinely threatened by members of hate organizations, said CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg.
Dees said his group is trying to underwrite legal-aid efforts for those stricken by Katrina. Issues that have already emerged after the hurricane include child support and property ownership.
His group also continues to monitor the emergence of hate groups over the Internet. As many as 600 websites are dedicated to racial hatred, and many target children.
“Kids are just sucked into this,” Dees said. “It used to be kids got all of their information from television or newspapers. Now it’s the Internet, and there are some hard-core white- supremacist groups out there.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
