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Vietnamese Fishermen v. Ku Klux Klan
Vietnamese Fishermen v. Ku Klux Klan
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well one day i got a call from uh morris
dees who founded the southern poverty
law center say what you do will about
morris he was a wonderful trial lawyer
and he had formed clan watch within the
splc
and called me one day and said the
vietnamese fishermen off the coast there
down in seabrook texas are being
uh
harassed and threatened uh and actually
uh
violently attacked by the klan
why don’t we go
file a lawsuit and shut them down so i
entered that lawsuit as co-counsel
both morris and i had threats against
our lives during the trial
the vietnamese fishermen had been just
fishing the the
ass off of the white fishermen they
would stay up from dawn till dusk
fishing and the white fishermen were
just getting
their earnings were plummeting and that
was the source of the trouble
the clan had a boat parade
that ended they had a guy on the boat
with a a machine gun
they burned a boat they hang hung a
vietnamese
fisherman in effigy and they
ended up uh
one of their members one klansman
shot out the windows he was driving a
red truck and
shot out the windows of the vietnamese
a truck driven by one of the vietnamese
we ended up before judge gabrielle
mcdonald
a wonderful brilliant woman who was the
first african-american
federal judge in the southern district
of texas
and not only did we shut down the
violence she gave us an injunction
uh shutting down the violence in
seabrook and threatening arrests if it
didn’t stop and that put an end to it
and number two she shut down the clan’s
paramilitary training which it provided
the guns and provided the men who were
harassing the fishermen and she shut
down the
this uh paramilitary training of the
klan in east texas and what’s so
interesting to me is
that 10 years later i went back out to
seabrook and the vietnamese fishermen
owned the dock
free and clear so that was a great a
great experience and working with morris
dees who’s been
canceled if you will by the southern
poverty law center
it was a great it was a great privilege
he’s a wonderful lawyer
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Houston, TX commercial litigation attorney David Berg shares the story of Vietnamese Fishermen v. Ku Klux Klan, a case in which he went after the KKK with Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center. He shares that one day, he receives a call from Morris Dees, the founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Morris, a remarkable trial lawyer, had created Clan Watch within the SPLC and tells him that Vietnamese fishermen off the coast of Seabrook, Texas, are being harassed, threatened, and even violently attacked by the Ku Klux Klan. Morris suggests filing a lawsuit to shut them down, and he agrees to come on as co-counsel.
During the trial, both he and Morris receive threats against their lives. The Vietnamese fishermen had been working tirelessly—from dawn to dusk—fishing, which caused the earnings of local white fishermen to plummet. The economic tension fuels the violence. The Klan stages a boat parade, complete with a man carrying a machine gun. They burn a boat, hang a Vietnamese fisherman in effigy, and one member shoots out the windows of a truck driven by one of the Vietnamese fishermen.
The case is heard before Judge Gabrielle McDonald, a brilliant jurist and the first African-American federal judge in the Southern District of Texas. Under her rulings, not only is the harassment and violence stopped, but she issues an injunction threatening arrests if it continues. She also shuts down the Klan’s paramilitary training in East Texas, which had provided both guns and manpower for the attacks.
Ten years later, he returns to Seabrook and sees the Vietnamese fishermen owning the dock outright, free and clear. The case is a landmark experience, and working with Morris Dees—a lawyer whose reputation has faced scrutiny in later years—remains one of the great privileges of his career.
