JACKSON, Mississippi — An alleged Ku Klux Klansman on trial for the deaths of two young black men 43 years ago should not be convicted because of his racial views, a court heard yesterday.

James Ford Seale, 71, a former crop duster, denies charges of kidnapping and conspiracy over the murder of Henry Dee and Charles Moore, who were allegedly beaten up and drowned in the Mississippi River by a group of Klansmen.

He has also denied being a member of the Klan, which was held responsible for a wave of white supremacist terror attacks and murders on black people in the southern states during the Civil Rights era.

The case, one of dozens of unsolved crimes against blacks at the time that federal and state authorities have vowed to re-examine, has inevitably been seen as a belated official attempt to address the Deep South’s history of racism.

Not surprisingly, defense lawyers set out quickly to try to separate Mr. Seale’s reputation and racial views from the charges.

“Being a member of the Klan, as detestable and abominable as it may be, was not a crime then and is not a crime now,” George Lucas, defending, told a jury of eight whites and four blacks. “You must remember my client is not on trial for being a racist. He is not on trial for murder. He is on trial for kidnapping.”

Prosecutors promised jurors during opening arguments that they will prove Mr. Seale was among those who killed the two 19-year-olds.

About 60 spectators, including relatives of Mr. Seale and the victims, have been in the federal court in the Mississippi capital of Jackson.

Mr. Seale, wearing a hearing aid, has sat impassively throughout the trial staring at each witness in the box. On one occasion, he turned to smile at members of his family.

Paige Fitzgerald, prosecuting, showed black-and-white pictures of the victims to the jury on a computer screen.

She told the jurors that the teenagers were picked up by their killers while they were hitchhiking in rural southwestern Mississippi.