Fitzsimmonsasking todrop the’ chargesagainst up its weak local organization. “There’s ‘knough mom Vlahovic.’ twentyreform gioups,” Early insisted: pointing One potential weakness of astrategy ‘that relies too that PROD’sstrength in the semi-rurallower Midwest heavily ,on miming reformers for local office is that the and the Southcomplements TDU’s power *in :the b2g movement mayfind itself abandoned by leaders who cities. Moreover, one-third of the national ’steering use it to advance .their careers. That, say the TDU committee of fifteen ‘persons-including PafE-are:PR@D leaders, the mistake that killed TURF, their prede- members. , , , - , ;..$ cessor in the reformstruggle. cLWe want to keep ours August, forced the Teamsters’’igeneralsex- areal grass-roots, movement tliat runs pedple on the ecutive board to agree to hear charges that Fitzsimmons issues,”Paff said. “We want to ‘make sure they are allowed excessive salaries for union officials,; hire& rela-. cormpittedright start, that they’ll stand up against tives and .mobsters,’and failed to dismiss officials linked the international and Fitzsimmonsand his policies.” to-known raclieteers. The group also predicted that shares the field of Teamster reform with Fitzsimmons will be forced out of office .and*Suc- the outgrowth of a conference for long-distance drivers, ceeded by Jackie Presser, one of sixteen vice presidents sponsored by Ralph Nader 1971. The TDU welcomed on the international executive board. so, Presser’s ap- recentswitch of emphasis from lobbyingand pearance on the picket line that Saturdaymorning, court suits ,to grass-rootsorganization, expects to panickypress campaign against the reformers; sug- , cooperate With it. newstrategy grew out of its gest that Fcagents”*of the TDU-convening just two belatedrealization that real reformcan take place only blocks from Presser’s offic+may indeed have the leader- ,if rank and file organize from the bottom up to gain ship bady worried. Presser inherited ,all .power

control of theirunion, said Steve Early, staff his father, ‘William, the retiring president of the Ohio I 1 lawyer, who attended ,the convention.With a Conference of Teamsters and of Joint Council 41, and $100,000 budget, collected entirely through mehbership he enjdys a of close $200,000 a ytar. Those dues literature sales, and a five-person st&€, are two good reasons for him to question his,,ow‘n stand-

greater resourcesand experience in Washington make ingamong the union’s rank and file. ., 1 .

- ,I

cern is not the evidence but Baxley’sreason for pur- suing the sensational case. Everyone knows he has been Robert Edward Chambliss,a grizzled, fiery little man running Governor since he was elected Attorney affectionately “Dynamite to’hisold buddies era1 in 1970 at the age of 28. Also, there are troubling in the Ku Klux Man, just about to leave a that the case threatens to reopen old iacial wounds Masonic lodge ineeting when the sheriff’s deputies arrived in a city still scarred by its brutal past. ai his,North Birmingham home September 26. The The case, has implications #reachingfar beyond 73-year-old retired automobilemechanic never made it the obvious concern of convictingand punishing the to hismeeting; he wound up instead in the Jefferson , guilty: The city of Birmingham, the Alabania judicial County Jail, chargedwith counts of first-degree I system, the uneasy truce between. the races,and even murder stemming from the 1963 bombing of the Six- Bill Baxley himself will on trial along with Chambliss. teenth Street BaptistChlirch. The arrest came fourteeu think we are going td find out ‘a lot about ourselves. years and eleven days after ‘four young black girls died and abouthow far we havecome,” ‘predicts one instantly -in the explosion at , the. packed church on a time Birmingham politician. “God knows what will hap- gray, overcast Sunday Dynamite is the first if this investigation falls through is mishandled as it was in For these reasons, two questions deserve pers.on to be chargedwith ‘crime accordingto , Atty. Gen:Bill Baxley,, won’t be the last.’ close scrutiny. 1, In fact, Baxley all but assured the public that more indictments are forthcoming. has said little more than that. , it jor be UnderstandTbly, these developments have raised ques- This, of cburse, is the question that goes to the heart tions. After many years, it is being asked, what has the case.’ .If evidence has been uncovered, it happened to break the case Has new evidence been certainly is in the form of a witness having found; if so, whatis it? To,many, the overridingcon- , remained silent all these years, has now decided that he shouldcome forward. But ,eventhis proposition is not as simple as it might seem.. Under ‘Alabama law, a de- a reporter fendant cannot be found guilty solely on the testimony 4, 2976. of an. accomplice. To obtain aconviction, the prosecu-

463, tion must present evidence corroborating the accomplice’s Heflin and numerous lesserfigures are rumored to be testimony. There has been speculation thatone of the considering campaigns for the office.) men involved in the bombing has weakened and will be Complicating the picture is -or rather given immunity in exchange for his testimony. That seems his absence. Since 1962, Wallace has so totally dominated unlikely, but if it is so, who or what is the corroborating Alabama poIitics that no one knows what to expect in , evidence? the next gubernatorial election.Wallace apparently will This becomes an’ even trickier question when you go to the U.S. Senate, replacing John Sparkman, who at consider that physical evidence in the case is said to be 77 is expected to seekre-election next year. Ala- practically nonexistent, most of it having been destroyed bama politics without Wallace is something few have con- in the explosion. The dynamite is gone; the timing de- templated. Therefore, the next Governor’s race promises vice was, blown to bits along with it. And beyond those to be one of the roughest, dirtiest and most competitive twothings it is improbable that muchphysical evidence in the state’s recent history. The field is wide open, and ever existed. every potential candidate is desperatelyseeking an early Baxley has gained access only recently to all of the advantage. files on the case. This information wasuseless If Baxleycould solve the church bombing, he almost to the bureau, since the federal statute of limitations for certainly wouldreceive a large percentage of the black crimes related to the bombing had expired. Nevertheless, vote. fact, he may not evenneed to convict anyone. most of these files were withheld for years from Ala- One black newspaper has already hailed the Attorney bama investigators. Various explanations have been, given General for obtaining an indictment. In an editorial head- for the conduct. (The bureau will not comment on lined Giant Called BillBaxley,” the newspaperen-

I the matter.) Somesay the FBI did nottrust Alabama thusiastically threw its..weight behind his candidacy. And authorities because of the incompetence displayed by the Baxley hasn’t even formally announced intentions. state police at ‘the time of the bombing. Others believe the Baxley’s political acumen neverbeen questioned. wanted to protect the informants named in its files. He knows the stakes involved in the bombing case, and And there are those who suspect the bureau feared leaks he knowshow vital solidblack support is flow in Ala- from the files about questionable tactics it employed bama, whereblacks are justbeginning to their against the Klan the early 1960s. One former numbers felt at the informant told a Senate committee that he was instructed However,Baxley must also realize that, by pursuing by the bureau to sleep with the wives of Klansmen as a the bombing, he stands to alienTte the hard-core sedneck means to learn the activities in Birming- vote, a segment of the electorate which, though declining ham. Homes, telephones and automobiles belonging to in strength, still 9adq is Klan by the Birmingham, for his political advantage, believe he is taking a calcu- this ex-informant also stated. lated observes Richard a black Birming- Although the evidencecompiled by the FBI is surely ham, CityCouncilman. must remember that there valuable, one man who had access to it thinks it would are a lot of people in this state who don’t really care if not be crucial to securingconvictions. Macon Weaver, this bombing is solved and someone ,is brougbt to justice. U.S. Attorney in Birmingham in 1963, says that if the havesome questions in my mind about the timing of files are the foundation on build- the indictment, but I just cannot bdieve that this is purely inghis case, convictions are doubtful. politics.” The solid clue to what the prosecution will present Baxley is fully aware of the strong racial feelings that camefrom Alabama’s Deputy Atty. Gen. George Beck, still permeate the state. He has become a close associate who said the case against Chambliss will involve witness of George Wtillace, but that seems to be major con- with first-hand knowledge of the bombing. It is also worth cession to the racist element.Otherwise, he flaunts remembering that Baxley has been criticized in the past contempt for the right-wingcrazies who still abound in for prosecuting,only open-and-shut cases. the Deep South. - For the moment,,and naturally enough,Baxley isn’t Last year, Baxley received a letter from Edward Fields, saying,what evidence he has. A person who has a Georgia chiropractor wellknown for his outlandish intimately associated with the investigation-one with no racist rhetoric, criticizing the Attorney General’soffice close personal ties to Baxley-recently told me:“Bill €or prosecuting some SKlux Klansmen. Baxley re- Baxleyis going to come out of this thing looking sponded with a typed letter on his office

~ good,” stationery. “Dear ‘Dr.’Fields,” wrote, “Myre- Is based on political sponse to your letter of February 19, 1976 is: my question probably. can be answered only after the trials. ass.” Fields 23 that Baxley presents strong cases (assuming that ,other he was “shocked”Baxley would dare to send such a dictments come down) it seems unlikely that .could be letter to a “white Christian American.” Probably, good accused of pursuing the church bombing for political many Alabamans agreed with him. gain. But if the cases prove weak, Baxley could be in for I some tough questioning about motives. Alabama will elect a new Governor next year (George Wallace, by law, The investigation has been low-keyed would be , cannot seek a new term), and the lists are already crowd- virtually impossible for any of Baxley’s responsible critics ed:Baxley, Lieut. Gov. , former Gov. to point to anything that smacks of sensationalism bert Brewer, former state Supreme Court Howell political theatrics. Most of the criticismhas come from

I 464 1, the Ku Klux’Klan and J.B. Stoner, anavowed white One black man, though,who most certainly disagrees , supremacist from Georgia whowas indicted recently for with the call for blood is Claude Wesley, ‘a 69-year- , another raciallymotivated Birmingham bombing, a 1958 old retired elementary school principal who, 1iBe~‘Cham- church bombing in ‘which no one was injured. (Alabama bliss,lives on Birmingham’sNorthside. It just over law recognizes no statute of limitations on the bombing of fourteen years ago that Wesleycarefully spread some a building near an inhabited! dwelling. Conviction on this papers on the front seat of hisautomobile so that his charge carries a sentence of ten years to death.) daughter, wouldn’t soil fresh, white,dress she

a A group of Klansmenrecently marched through down- , had chosen wear that Sunday to the’)Sixteenth Street town . Birmingham,carrying placards denouncing the Baptist Church. ,,

“harassment” of “innocent whitepeople,” and shouting Earlier that morning, Cynthia had I acknowledgeb that “StopBaxley!” “It‘s all political,” said Alabama Grand ‘she didn’t feel well. But it Day at the church, Dragon DonBlack of the indictments of Stoner and and Cynthia, an active 14-year-old, decided that occasion Chambliss. “[Baxley] wants!’to be Governor.” was more important than a slightlyupset stomach. “I’ve The Klan is particularly outraged that Dynaqite Bob’s got a full today,” she told her father ‘they washed bondwas set at $200,000. Chambliss is a Klansman’s the breakfast dishes. . , Klansman, the late he lost his as a mechanic Claude Wesley has tried to remember what he and his ‘ with the city of Birmingham after he had smashed a daughter talked about as they drove to the church; much reporter’s camera at a Klan rally. Just to prove that he to regret, he cannot. He remembers dropping her off hadn’t lost any of his vim and vigor,Chambliss last at the church and watchingher run into the building; August attacked a black television cameraman who tried It was the last time he saw her alive. Minutes later, to film him outside the grand jury room of the Birming- Wesleywas having- his. shoesshined about two blocks ham courthouse. ‘It took two bailiffs to pull him off the .away when tremendous explosion broke the Sunday cameraman. Anyone who’ was present that’ day can attest morning quiet. Laterthat day, Wesley ‘was led into a that, at 73, DynamiteBob still throws a meanright- dimly lit hospital room,where four small’ bodies~lay1 cross. ,, covered with, white sheets. a doctor prepared to pull Stoner’sassessment of Baxley’smotives, ‘is vivid: “He one of the sheets back, Wesley recoiled. “,No,” he pleaded, is nothing, but a sore-headednigger-lover who istrying “please, don’twant to ~ee.’~GentIy, , Wesley reached to get the nigger bloc vote when he runs for Governor.” under the sheet and pulled daughter’s hand into view. Baxleyreplied by giving Stoner someunsolicited legal He identified her by a class she was wearing. advice: he really wants to beat this charge, he ought “Not a day by that don’t think about to pleadinsanity. I’m sure he’d have no trouble at all ley not long after Chamblisswas arrested. ‘‘But I proving that he’s crazy as hell.’’ have no hate or bitterness, and I have no feelings toward gentlemanthey have arrested: IF he, did it, he will be taken care of, if they can prove he really did it.” van marches and racial slurs are all too familiar to He refuses to join those who are second-guessing every most Birmingham residents. a city that only fourteen move made in the irivestigation. For Claude Wesley, the yearsago was known worldwide as “Bombingham,” the mere fact of the indictment is comforting.“We hadto experience is most unpleasant. There is striking dif- wonder if anything was going to be done. The FBI told ference now,however. The black population no longer us the week of the bombing that it would a very diffi- cowers in,,silence. cult task to solve this case. This kind of thing is difficult the city’smost idiuential to deal’ with. along and nobodyseems to care, black newspaper, a front-page editorial written by but it looks like somebody does care and that they have editor Streeter that paralleled .the racist excesses of beenworking on this for longtime and wedidn’t even

1 the whitepress years eadier. Published just daysafter know it.” Chambliss’s arrest, the editorial called for his electrocu- Despite the tragedy and the apparent reluctance of the tion “and in a hurry.” The final paragraph read “Cham- authorities in the past to ‘solve the crime, WesIeyand bliss is 73 years old and is said to be sick. But old and his wife, Gertrude, never considered leaving Birmingham. ,sick or not, his life should be at least partial payment for “What good would that have done? Why should we have the lives of those small children. It’s quite understandable left?” he asks. !‘People like that [those’who bombed the that the parents ,of the girls wouldn’t consider taking the church] got lost I don’t think theyreally I life of an old wrinkle-faced,ugly white man like Cham- knewwhat they Besides, Cynthia is here. blissas anything near compensation for their children: Wecould never leave we stayed.” 0 But the old rascalshould be electrocuted and surely the black. community will settle for nothing less.” accurately that editorial reflects the black com- munity’sfeelings is debatable. Black City Councilman Richard Arrington asserts that there is no “lynch-mob a a mentality among’the blacks.” He sees the editorial as an a nothing than personal statement: “Those were EBM ,schlt.igal, to YOU just John’s thoughts on the subject.’’ Still, the editorial- he and racist and irresponsible though it was-has not prompted a peep of profest from readers. I

THE 5, 1977 465