AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DEBATE : HICKS: ACTIVIST NOT MAKING TOPIC A PERSONAL ATTACK.

Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer

As a civil rights leader who emerged from the streets of South Central, Joe R. Hicks never imagined he would debate former Klansman David Duke.

Hicks, who has headed numerous civil rights and liberty groups in a career spanning three decades, sees Duke as his antithesis.

``I never certainly thought that I would be in a face-to-face discussion with someone who I personally detested throughout most of my life, as long I've been aware there was a David Duke,'' said Hicks, an African-American.

While Duke's invitation to debate Hicks on affirmative action at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday has spawned an outcry over Duke's speaking qualifications and his controversial past, Hicks' role has garnered little attention.

But last week in his office overlooking downtown Los Angeles, 55-year-old Hicks expressed a readiness to debate Duke in order to give the voting public an understanding of issues surrounding affirmative action.

``I don't go in with some kind of boxer's mentality that I'm going to defeat David Duke, humiliate him - that I don't think is the proper framework to address this kind of event at all,'' said Hicks, executive director of the MultiCultural Collaborative of Los Angeles, a public interest and advocacy organization created after the 1992 riots.

``It is simply for me, another opportunity to do what I've been doing for well over a year, which is to engage audiences over the ideas surrounding affirmative action.''

Though he's never met Duke or spoken with him, Hicks recognizes the inherent differences in the man he will debate.

Duke abhors multiculturalism, doesn't believe in racial integration and espouses a white supremacist philosophy.

Hicks recently headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, a civil rights organization founded by Martin Luther King Jr., has spoken out against apartheid in South Africa and fought for human rights in Central America.

Today with the collaborative, Hicks seeks solutions to interracial tension in Los Angeles. One of the group's projects is to involve African-American and Latino parents in the reform of South Los Angeles public schools. The organization also oversees a countywide conflict resolution network that mediates for groups in times of crisis.

Despite Duke's past castigation of African-Americans - he has advocated sending African-Americans back to Africa - Hicks said he doesn't have any sense of personal anger against him.

``I'm not going to rant and rave and yell and scream. For me it goes beyond anger,'' Hicks said. ``I think David Duke becomes simply a foil to have this debate before a sizable audience, in this case predominantly young people who I want to vote in November in the most educated way.''

UC Regent Ward Connerly and other backers of Proposition 209, the Nov. 5 California ballot initiative to end racial and gender preferences in state and local government, contend Duke is not qualified to speak on affirmative action.

Hicks disagreed and pointed out that since the 1970s Duke's political campaigns have focused on three areas: immigration, welfare and affirmative action.

``That has been Duke's stock and trade, his platform when he ran for the governor's spot in Louisiana, when he ran for the Senate (previously),'' Hicks said.

Hicks advocates monitoring and amending affirmative action policies to strengthen existing laws. For instance, he would like to incorporate socioeconomic standing into the policies so that poor, white families are not excluded.

``I'm not wedded to affirmative action. I'm wedded to the concept of equal opportunity, and any vehicle or vehicles that can guarantee that for women and minorities I think should be seriously explored,'' Hicks said.

Hicks disputed claims by Connerly and Gov. Pete Wilson, a Proposition 209 supporter, that Duke's appearance at CSUN would unfairly link the former KKK grand wizard with the initiative.

The public will not suddenly vote against the proposition simply because Duke is speaking on affirmative action, Hicks said.

``I don't see that happening, but clearly Pete Wilson and others who have endorsed, backed, promoted or helped to fund this ballot measure are terrorized by the prospect of David Duke coming in,'' Hicks said.

CAPTION(S):

Photo