And now for a bit of background on catspaw's hero, Morris Dees. From a "Fact Sheet" about Dees, the "protector" of poor blacks in the American south:

In 1961 when Freedom Riders were beaten by a white mob at a Montgomery bus station, Dees [and Fuller] expressed openly his sympathies and support for what had happened at the bus station. ... When one of the men charged with beating the Freedom Riders came to their office for legal representation, Dees and Fuller took the case. The legal fee was paid by the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizen's Council. [Fuller, Millard. Love in the Mortar Joints. New Century Press: 1980 and The Progressive, July 1988]...

The SPLC (Dees' organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center) which has crusaded for the rights of blacks for 23 years, is controlled by whites. It has hired only TWO black staff attorneys in its history, both of whom left unhappy. 12 of 13 former Black employees interviewed by the Montgomery Advertiser complained they experienced or observed racial problems during their employment. Several said the SPLC was "more like a plantation."

http://www.thesocialcontract.com/answering_our_critics/art_morris_dees_fact_sheet.html