DIEGAN CHAMPIONED CIVIL RIGHTS, FOUGHT HATE

BY JEFF MCDONALD

He was a native son of New York City who spent his life confronting some of the lowest aspects of human nature. But by every measure, Morris Casuto was outspoken, full of passion and defined by courage. He attended Ku Klux Klan rallies to better understand his adversaries He was targeted by White supremacists for speaking out against hate —and he was forced more than once to don a bullet-resistant vest for his own protection. But he often turned to humor to disarm his critics. Casuto arrived in San Diego in the 1970s, when the Jewish community was less cohesive and less vocal, and changed his adopted hometown fundamentally. He founded the local chapter of the SEE CASUTO A18