NAMES IN THE NEWS : Helms Hires Meredith as Assistant

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —  Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) said in an interview today he has hired James Meredith, the first black to attend the University of Mississippi, but not just because Meredith is black.

Meredith, now 56, was escorted by 30,000 federal troops and U.S. marshals when he entered the segregated Mississippi campus in 1963. Ensuing riots left two dead.

Helms hired Meredith as a special assistant, the conservative senator told the Winston-Salem Journal.

“I did not hire Dr. Meredith because he was black. I hired him because he is smart, and because I think he’s got something to contribute in getting a message out to many, many Americans who need a message,” Helms said.

In recent years Meredith has changed his views on civil rights, calling integration the “biggest con job ever pulled on anyone.”

Helms, who faces reelection in 1990, gained recognition in the 1960s as a TV commentator in Raleigh, often speaking against busing and other civil rights issues.

Helms told the Journal he met Meredith last year at a conference sponsored by an organization financed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church.

Althea Simmons, the head of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in Washington, told the Journal she found it hard to believe that Meredith would work for Helms.

“Mr. Helms’ voting record has certainly been anti-civil rights. I can assure you it is not one that civil rights activists look on with favor,” Simmons said.