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This book dramatically chronicles the poignant events which led Morris Dees to the front lines of the polite rights onslaught as well as his ongoing electioneer opposite hatred groups.This is the story of the bold as well as mostly waste tour of the learned as well as argumentative route counsel whose career has paralleled the nation’s onslaught to safeguard leisure as well as equivalence for all the citizens…. More >>
A Lawyer’s Journey: The Morris Dees Story
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No one could help but be a fan of Mr. Dees when he is addressing issues of white racism. That people like him stood up years ago for justice when others turned their backs, should be commended. But reading this book in the light of current events made me wonder: is the bigotry in a church, say, like Jeremiah Wright’s dealt with by the SPLC? Just go to the Southern Poverty site and check for yourself. No way. It seems bigotry is only one-sided. This ashame. Bigotry in all its forms should be dealt with in an even-handed manner. It just makes you wonder what (or what isn’t) going on down there in Montgomery.
This book was about Morris Dees fight against the KKK. It centered around two or three big trials that helped bring he KKK down. It was clearly a personal fight for Dees. His life was threatened several times by the KKK. While he claims not to be a civil rights attorney, he has a strong sense of justice and figthts for what he believes is right.
He also helped found The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that helps repressed indigent people. Not all of the clients he represents are “good” people, but he feels that everyone deserves a fair trial.
Overall it was a decent book, but sometimes his ego got in the way of the story.
Morris Dees was born to a sharecropper family. Rising from white Southern poverty, Mr. Dees went to law school and became a fighter for justice on behalf of the poor.
I have met Mr. Dees. He was the keynote speaker at my law school graduation. His Southern Poverty Law Center once assisted my Firm on a case when it turned out that one of our opponents was an active Klansman.
Mr. Dees is passionate about his work with the SPLC, and its “Klanwatch” which has expanded to monitor all domestic hate groups. This book discusses several of Mr. Dees’ more high-profile and more personally meaningful cases. It’s an important document that sheds light on an aspect of our national character that brings out the worst in many and the best in some like Mr. Dees and his associates.
A Lawyer’s Journey: The Morris Dees Story by Morris Dees with Steve Fiffer is an autobiography which reads like a novel. It is Morris’ story of growing up in a share-cropper’s family on a cotton farm in Mississippi in the post Depression years. He worked in the fields with the black laborers, whom he heard talking among themselves as no other white ears could hear. With a compassionate father who treated negroes kindly in a period and place when other whites treated them cruelly or unfairly, Morris’ character was developed to be sympathetic to the underlings of society. He grew up to be a successful lawyer and founded the Southern Poverty Law Center, which fairly and without charging represents poor clients so they can receive just treatment in a legal system which still favors the rich, white accused. The book is a compelling and poignant read and one you cannot put down. It will pull your heart strings and educate you to cruel realities in America today. An excellent book you won’t want to miss
I supported the Southern Poverty Law Center without knowing its history, because I liked what it stood for, especially the Teaching Tolerance program. Reading this book helped me see the progression of the Center. I recommend it for anyone wishing to know more about the inside story of desegration in the South. It’s a fascinating read, especially for amateurs interested in the law.