Justice Department to Investigate Incidents of Harassment at Michigan

The U.S. Justice Department will conduct an investigation of the recent distribution of white supremacist literature at the University of Michigan, officials at the university's Black Students' Union (BSU) said this week.

The BSU's request came after a group calling itself "Students for White Supremacy" posted racist flyers around the campus, said John O. Williams, president of the BSU. The flyers contained racial slurs such as "Darkies don't belong in classrooms, they belong hanging from trees."

Justice Department agent William Hall, who conducted a similar investigation at the school last year, will begin next week to try to identify the persons responsible for the flyers, Williams said. Last year's investigation, also at the BSU's request, proved inconclusive, he said.

Last Monday, more flyers containing similar racial slurs were distributed anonymously around campus, Williams said.

"We want to nip this in the bud," Williams said, adding that he was concerned that the distribution of the flyers might inspire more incidents of racial harassment on the Ann Arbor campus.

Williams said the BSU "called for an independent investigation to make sure that it was an objective investigation."

University security forces have joined forces with the Ann Arbor police to investigate the occurrences, according to Keith E. Molin, director of university communications. But the investigation has so far been "difficult" and produced "no hard leads," Molin said.

"There's some question as to whether the [Students for White Supremacy] actually exist," Molin said. "This may just be a bad, sick joke--the product of one or more sick minds."

But an investigation conducted last year by the Civil Rights Commission at the request of the BSU revealed that there may be a single group behind the distribution of racist material at a number of colleges nationwide, Williams said.

Williams said he thought the incidents of racial harassment both this and last year "may be part of a collective effort."