Conspiracy
One day Morris was going through boxes of papers at the YMCA.
The lawyers for the YMCA were there too, but they had broken away
for lunch. Morris stayed and accidentally stumbled on a box of
documents which was proof that the government was involved with
the YMCA, therefore it was downgraded from private organization
to government funded organization which made it applicable to
the Civil Rights Act.
Apparently there was something called the "City Recreation-YMCA
Coordinating Committee", something unheard of before. The Document
said the objective of the Committee was to "..will be to coordinate
the programs of the City Recreation Department and YMCA to provide
the maximum program of recreation and character building to the
maximum people with the minimum overlapping."
What Morris Dees found was pretty close to a city conspiracy.
There were several more documents which named the responsibilities
of the Y to provide facilities for sports such as swimming and
tennis to the city. And one of the most important documents Morris
found was a letter from the Mayor of Montgomery, Earl D. James,
to the Committee which talked about planning and his last sentence
was 'I suggest that we do not include the Negro staff members
or board members."
Morris Dees photocopied everything and left the Y happy with
his new discovery. He had proof that the Y was discriminating
against blacks and furthermore that they were conducting a secret
operation to provide the city with facilities that it lacked given
money from the city.
This case would be a breakthrough in the fight for justice. It
would mean integration within the city, black boys swimming half
naked with white girls in the same pool. The people of Montgomery,
even those not involved with the Y wasn't going to let that happen
easily.
