Who is William A. White, and why is an Internet entrepreneur who's been called the "Matt Drudge of the extreme right" buying up rental properties in an impoverished neighborhood in Roanoke's West End?

Critics are raising questions about why a man who professes anti-Semitism and controversial racial views would want to become landlord to large numbers of black and biracial tenants.

They point to postings he's put on his Web site, overthrow.com, with headlines such as "Niggers Are Plotting Against My Shrubs" and "More On My Ghetto Beautification Project." The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremist political groups, says overthrow.com is "the second most popular racist site on the Internet" and lists White as one of "40 to Watch" among religious/racial hate purveyors.

"He's been on our radar because he's a flat-out neo-Nazi," said Heidi Beirich, a spokeswoman for the Alabama-based law center. "We consider him very dangerous."

White, 27, said he's not a Nazi or a racist -- he's a "libertarian socialist" and "radical traditionalist" -- and that critics are targeting him as part of a political and personal vendetta. He said he's simply a businessman who moved to Roanoke to make a profit in the rental business by investing his money and helping raise the quality of life in neglected neighborhoods.

"I wouldn't be out here buying and fixing up houses if I had some agenda against the black community," he said. "I don't have anything against black people. The Jews, I despise. They hate me. I hate them. They can kiss my a--."

The article titled "Niggers Are Plotting Against My Shrubs" has been taken down from his site. He said a version being circulated by his critics has been altered and distorted. But he acknowledged writing the headline.

He also acknowledged declaring in the article that "the local nig-rats are already conspiring to test me" and opining that "trying to get a broad section of the black population to accept a higher standard of living is always an uphill battle. ... For centuries blacks -- particularly blacks descended from the Bantu tribes of Central Africa -- have been lying to and stealing from not only white men, but each other."

White said someone pulled up the new shrubbery at one of his properties and he wrote about it as a way of "contrasting honest black persons with the crack dealers, prostitutes and con artists."

He said he tries to be outrageous to provide entertainment and stimulate debate. In fact, he said, "I'm starting to work on projects that are much more vicious than Overthrow."

White, who said he had lived previously in Maryland and Missouri, began buying properties in Roanoke this spring. He said he has nine single- and multifamily properties in the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Chapman and Patterson avenues either in his possession or under contract. He said he expects to spend a total of $3 million over two years, swelling his number of properties to 45 or 50.

He said he's investing lots of money fixing up the properties. One of his tenants, Stephanie Dobyns, is happy with what he's done. "He's been fabulous," said Dobyns, who is white and has a 9-year-old biracial daughter. "He's been going out of his way to make sure everything is updated. He's been very kind."

As for the concerns about his racial and religious views, she said, "I've heard, but I don't believe."

Another tenant, Deborah Burnett, is less pleased with White. Burnett, who is black, said she fears him, and that after learning about his writings, she told him, "I don't want you on my property because I have my babies to protect."

White's views came to light this week when a former friend and political ally, Erica Hardwick, began distributing leaflets titled "Meet Your Local Racist."

Hardwick, 22, said in an interview that she is a former neo-Nazi activist who decided to leave the movement's violence and hatred behind and fight prejudice through a radical anti-racist group, One People's Project.

White said he and Hardwick were once romantically involved and that he moved to Roanoke, her hometown, partly at her urging. Hardwick said that's not true.

The two had a confrontation Tuesday while Hardwick was passing out the leaflets. Hardwick charges that White assaulted her. White says she assaulted him.

Burnett and a friend of Hardwick's, George Pierce, support Hardwick's account. White said he has witnesses who support him, but they're afraid to come forward because they don't want to get involved with the police.

Hardwick has sworn out an assault warrant against White. White has sworn out assault and trespassing warrants against Hardwick and an assault warrant against Pierce.

White has also accused Burnett of aiding and abetting trespassing for inviting Hardwick into her home. On Thursday, he gave Burnett notice that he was evicting her as a result of "this criminal activity and the disruption of the peace and quiet of my other tenants."

Burnett, a grandmother who's lived in her home eight years, vowed to fight. "I'm not going out without a battle," she said.

White said he might reconsider evicting Burnett if she would talk to him about the situation. But he said he reserves the right to keep people he considers undesirable off his properties.

He also e-mailed The Roanoke Times to accuse a newspaper reporter of trespassing for accompanying Hardwick on a visit to Burnett's home.

Stan Barnhill, the newspaper's attorney, said the law is clear that landlords have no right to prevent people from coming and going on the landlord's property as long as they are invited by the tenant and they do no damage to the property.

Later, in an interview, White told a reporter, "you should ask my permission" to visit his rental properties, regardless of whether tenants give permission.

Pressed on the issue, he said, "it's not a question of dictating who can come and who cannot." But, he said, the neighborhood has a history of crime, and it's important for him to "establish authority."

He said his critics - and now the news media - have disrupted what he's trying to do for the neighborhood. In a posting Thursday on overthrow.com, he said he was being harassed by "the Jews and the Jewish television stations who professionally manipulate the black community. Well, no surprise, all day reporters have been driving up and down harassing my tenants. My tenants are almost afraid to go outside."

Later in the day, however, he agreed to sit on the porch of one of his properties and give a long interview to The Roanoke Times about his growing rental business - and about his embrace of what he termed "extreme" and sometimes "vicious" political views.

Double-check everything, he said, because his views are complex and easily misconstrued. "There are a lot of things that are said about me that are not true. Not only not true - but extremely not true."