Group Seeks Funds To Save NAACP

The Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students' Association has formed an ad hoc committee to raise money for use by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in a Mississippi law suit brought against the civil rights organization.

The committee hopes to raise at least $2000 by late January, Garry W. Martin '79, president of the committee, said yesterday. The money will go towards defraying the cost of the NAACP's legal defense and for paying damages that may be assessed by the court.

The NAACP faces bankruptcy if it loses the law suit.

The litigation stems from NAACP-led boycotts directed against 12 white merchants in Port Gibson, Miss. who, according to the NAACP, were not providing adequate employment opportunities for members of the local black community.

Ex Post Facto?

Following the boycott, a state law was passed prohibiting "conspiracies" to boycott businesses. Last August, the Hinds County Chancery Court awarded $1,250,699 in damages to the merchants.

To appeal a judge's ruling, Mississippi law requires that a litigant post a bond of 125 per cent of the court award within 45 days. As a result the NAACP was struggling to meet a $1.66 million bond.

A federal court granted the association a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the enormous bond. Federal Court Judge Orma R. Smith lowered the bond to $110,000, allowing the NAACP to appeal its case, and supporting the association's allegation that the huge bond would cause "serious, substantial and irreparable injury" to the NAACP.

Nathaniel Jones, chief counsel for the NAACP, said last week that full payment of the court award would have bankrupted the organization.

Martin said that he "just couldn't let the organization that was doing so much for blacks go down the drain."

Martin added that the idea for the committee originated from a conversation between himself and a friend, Michael W. Jones '79, who is in charge of one of the group's subcommittees.

"We felt bad that no effort to help the NAACP was being made here," Martin said. "It wasn't the money that mattered, it was the effort."

The fund raising committee expects to raise several thousand dollars through activities it is sponsoring at Harvard within the next three months. These activities include a dance, a speaker series in January, and a house collection, Martin said.

"I'm really surprised," Martin said, "that the response to our idea was so strong. We have found many people who are willing to do everything they can to help us."

The fund raisers also expect to receive aid from other black campus organizations. Jones said yesterday that many other campus groups are either taking up collections for the NAACP on their own or are planning to help the committee.

NAACP supporters include heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, who pledged $100,000 that he won in his October 9 title bout with Ken Norton.

"The NAACP has fought so many landmark court cases that brought us where we are now," Martin said. "Without them, where would we be? By protecting the NAACP, we're protecting our own rights," he added.

Jones said that helping the NAACP is "the greatest thing I can do as an undergraduate here. Normally, I don't get politically involved, but when I saw this I said, 'Hey, a must.'"