IDAHO THE HUMAN RIGHTS STATE
Committed to the elimination of prejudice and bigotry
Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations President Diana Gissel
Task Force to celebrate its 25th anniversary Tony Stewart Secretary
events and Black History month in February. The TV programs will feature the contributions of many courageous indiThe KCTFHR held its first organviduals and the positive responses of izational meeting the first week of communities throughout the Inland February 1981, in the basement of Northwest to the work and leadership of the First Christian Church, 610 N the Kootenai County Task Force on Hu4th Street, in Coeur d'Alene. man Relations. The TV series will Tony Stewart, former presibe followed by a great 25th dent and current secretary to KCTFHR Birthday party at the 9th the KCTFHR, recently an- (._.. - ~) annual Human Rights Banquet on nounced that as program pro.;r• ~ March 20, 2006 at The Coeur ducer of the Nc:th l daho Cold'Alene Inr. in Coeui d'A:c c. lege TV Public Forum he will We invite ideas or special stoproduce and broadcast a nine ries from our members about the week PBS TV regional series high25 years of the KCTFHR that could belighting the many goals and suecome part of either the TV series or the cessful activities of the KCTFHR. birthday party. The programs will air on six regional Contact Tony Stewart for informaPBS stations during the months of tion (208) 769-3325. January and February in conjunction with the annual January King
Inside this issue:
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producers of two documentaries aired nationally on PBS television. The 1995 documentary titled "Not in Our Town", about the response of Billings, Montana, to a rash of hate crimes, will be shown followed by a lecture from one of the producers. The other documentary produced in 2005 titled ''The Fire Next Time" aired on PBS's Point (C11111i1111ed " " page l )
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Overview on 2005 Events
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President 's Address
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Editor's Column
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Invite to Kootenai Fair
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Upcoming Events • Kootenai Fair Booth · Aug 24-ZB, 2006
NIC Popcorn Forum to host major Civil Rights events Tony Stewart, chair of the NIC Popcorn Forum, announced two major programs for the Fall Semester, 2005 featuring human rights issues. Both programs will provide both the NIC campus as well as the larger community the opportunity to attend and participate in these activities. The first Popcorn Forum program will host one of the
Educational Materials
• Annual Gala · Jan 16, 2006
• HR Banquet - Mar 20, 2006 • List of officers: • President Dianna Gissel • Vice Pres. JoAnn Harvey • Secretary Tony Stewart • Treas . Lorraine Landwehr
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• Editor Lucy Lepinski
( Poprnm Forum rn111i1111ed fm111 page I /
of View Series on July 12. This documentary produced over a two year period features the Kalispell, Montana community. The film poses the question as to whether Kalispell might become the next worst flashpoint in the country's running battle between the forces of economic development, environmental activism and anti-government extremism. The Popcorn Forum series will take place over two days with each day featuring one of the documentaries, a lecture by the producer and a dialogue with the audience.
These documentaries will be featured at the NIC Popcorn Forum on Monday and Tuesday, September 12 and 13, 2005. The second Popcorn Forum will be held on Monday, October 10, 2005 and it will feature a number of Native American actors from Los Angeles. The program will be co-sponsored by the Gene Autry Center in Los Angeles. The program theme will feature the ideas, works and writings of Native American in the humanities and arts. Again the NIC campus and larger community will be invited. Tony Stewart is working on
this project with human rights activist Jeanne Givens who is an advisor to the Gene Autry Center. Jeanne and Tony are coordinating this event with Los Angeles resident Tom Kellogg. The actors are coming to the Northwest especially to work with the children of The Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
Check out the Ta k Force web ite for more information on alJ the e i ues and more: www.idahohumanrights.org
KCTFHR promotes educational materials Tony Stewart
Secretary Tolerance.org, the web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a wonderful source for educators and families to obtain materials dedicated to promoting understanding and acceptance. And it is a principal online destination for people interested in dismantling bigotry and creating, in hate's stead, communities that value diversity. The web site also provides an excellent
newsletter on a regular basis. The newsletter can be read by going to the address http:// newsletter. splcenter.org Ms. Ann M. Van Dyke with the Education/Community Services Division of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission shared with us an exciting student-led dialogue program that we wish to share with you. The program known as Project 540 is a youth-led project-based curriculum that seeks to engage high school students in civic learning, organizing and
planning around an issue or issues of importance to youth in their community. Some schools have used Project 540 to address America's role in the World, examine issues of violence and discrimination, and such other issues as inter-racial understanding. The national website is www. project540. org.
Email : editor@idahohumanrights.org Page Z
Summer ZOOS Newsletter
Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations 2005 Events Tony Stewart
Secretary The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations was one of the co-sponsors of the 20th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. week in Kootenai County. The Task Force joined with the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls school districts, the NIC Popcorn Forum and the Human Rights Education Institute to present Mr. Bob Williams of "The Living Voices" from Seattle, Washington. Williams spent a week traveling to the various elementary schools using video interspersed with his role as a young African American during the 1960's civil rights movement in the South. The young people were visibly moved by these presentations. The week ended with Mr. Williams appearing with 1,300
fifth grade students at NIC where both he and many of the students presented a powerful program. To date more than 22,000 fifth grade students have participated in these programs over 20 years. Once again the program was coordinated by outstanding Skyway Elementary principal Pam Pratt. Diana Gissel and her committee once again produced a very successful annual KCTFHR Gala event on January 17, 2005. The Gala event featured great food, many beautiful auction items, and conversations with many friends. This Gala event is the one and only yearly fund-raiser for the Task Force. We greatly appreciate your many years of supporting this event. Without you we would not have the needed funds to serve our communities. Thank you. On March 21, 2005 the Kootenai
County Task Force on Human Relations was a co-sponsor along with the Human Rights Education Institute of the 8th annual Human Rights Banquet with over 400 people in attendance. The keynote address was given by Debbie Bird of Seattle, Washington. She inspired the audience with her story growing up as an African American young woman. The more than 40 college students in attendance were especially inspired with her comments as well as hearing the life story of the 2004 KCTFHR Civil Rights Award winner Ida Hawkins who has been involved in civil rights and social justice issues for over 50 years.
KCTFHR President Diana Gissel's Annual Message For 2004 Presented at the December 6, 2004 KCTFHR Annual Business Meeting Greetings, This is my 3rd annual report as president of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. As we meet here at St. Pius X Catholic Church on December 6, 2004, civil rights has become a lifetime of passionate commitment consisting of hard work and energy. We have fought the good fight and we have won in so far as our culture allows human rights activists to win anything at all. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations started with its first meeting of 15 residents at a restaurant being targeted by the Nazis, and then in the basement of a small Protestant church on 4th street in Coeur d'Alene (February, 1981) and on to other venues and other churches. Our monthly board meetings for most of the time have been President Diana Gissel
at the beloved St. Pius X Catholic Church in Coeur d'Alene. We have survived the attempted murder of beloved Father Bill Wassmuth by the Nazis during the time he was the Parish priest of this church and president of the KCTFHR. We also survived the untimely death of Bill to Lou Gherich's disease and long time board member Larry Broadbent from cancer. We must remember that it was Larry who through his keen investigative skills as the Undersheriff of Kootenai County, uncovered "Order I" and gave the initial push for the arrest and conviction of this band of racist criminals on numerous Federal crimes. We not only survived but we thrived. How have we done it? Many years ago One of the Freedom Riders, John Lewis, after having barely survived a police aided KKK
assault on the Freedom Riders at the bus station in Montgomery, Alabama, had a meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders. The leaders met with Lewis and other Freedom Riders to convince them to give up the idea of continuing the bus ride into Mississippi and on to Louisiana and New Orleans. King felt the idea was plainly suicidal as the Freedom Riders had nearly been killed twice just trying to cross Alabama. Every time that Lewis felt compelled to respond to the entreaties of King to desist in this suicidal mission Lewis would look King in the eye and say, "We're gonna ride." In a different place and a different time, when bombs were exploding, when murder was in (Continued on page 4)
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Presidential Address continued from page 3 the air, when common sense told us to quit this crazy work, we stayed the course. When community leaders, our friends and neighbors asked us to stop, to go quietly into the night, we stayed the course. When the personal threats and character assassinations became the common place, we stayed the course. When actions by the Nazis speciflca lly designed to take our jobs, our careers, our businesses away from us, we stayed the course. When some fellow civil rights activists publicly ridiculed us, we stayed the course. When each of these things occurred and sometimes they oc-
curred in pairs or sets our only answer was, "We're gonna ride." It has been an honor, a privilege and a life changing experience for me and mine to have lived through it all with all of you. As the Nazis had a very small group of marchers in downtown Coeur d'Alene in July, 2004 the Aryan Nations followers have moved their headquarters to Alabama. Ironically the move takes them only about 100 miles from Montgomery, the headquarters of the Southern Poverty Law Center. The 2004 year was another momentous year for the KCTFHR. Aren't they all. The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Gala Event in January, 2004 was a wonderful time at
the beautiful Clark House Mansion. This coming January (2005) our Gala Event will be held at a new location, 4365 Inverness Drive, Post Falls. You will know the location as the old Highlands Golf Course Club. There is a lot of good parking and we will have a lot of fun!
Human Rights Education Institute update Lucy Lepinski Editor As many of you know I serve on both the KCTFHR board and as the Secretary of the Human Rights Education Institute board. Since the Task Force is the parent organization, I thought a postcard from the offspring would be appreciated. The proceeds from this year's Human Rights Banquet were $10,000! Thanks to all who supported this years event. These funds continue to help support the diversity scholarships at NIC and the annual MLK fifth grade activities also at NIC. The Human Rights Center (the old electric substation) at the CDA City Park, is now in phase one of development. It is receiving some sprucing up for temporary use during a fund raising campaign and the completion of the Four corners study . Some of it is exterior lighting and landscaping and some is interior work. Please come by and have a
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President Diana Gissel
look! Did you hear about World Dollar Day? Area youth raised money to change the world. The youth decided what charities the funds would be distributed to. Recently, the CDA Tribe was asked to have a member sit on the HREI board and we are most happy to welcome Norma Peone as a new board member. HREI welcomed another new board member earlier this year, Steve Flershinger a local CPA. He brings awesome financial expertise and compassion to the table. H you run into either of these folks please thank them for their willingness to serve as human rights advocates. I hope you all have a wonderful summer! I hope to see you at the Human Rights Center or at the Fair!
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Rivers are Full, by Amos Aguny Kur Lost Boy, Dallas, TXŠ 2003 Rivers are full with our bodies. Yet the World has not discovered it. Why? The land is white, covered with our bones. Yet the World has not seen it. Why? Our flesh is the food of the birds of prey, and wild animals. Yet the World doesn't know it.
Why? Our blood forms streams that flow like streams of water. Yet the World keeps her eyes away from it. Why? We cry. We scream. Yet the World has not heard our Voices. Why? Our Mothers are Fourth Citizens in the Country that they have created. Yet there are no Women's Rights. Why? The Children of Sudan abducted, beaten, and worse. There are no protections for them. Why? The price of a human being that God created not to be sold brings three times the price of a goat. Yet slavery has been abolished.
Why? The oil that God has blessed us to have turns as a great Enemy toward our lives. Even our Government turns out the villagers. Why? Westerners brought our grandparents Christian beliefs. Now our beliefs are attacked with guns. Yet the West does not defend us.
Why?
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President Diana Gissel
Curable diseases claim 100,000 lives. Yet our Country could buy medicine. Why? Hunger starves big numbers of young and old every year. Yet our Country has fertile land and water to grow enough food for all. Why? The Freedom that God has given to all living creatures is denied to us. Why? One thing I know: the World has forgotten us but God has not, has not forgotten has not abandoned us. We need to be free like the rest of the World. We need the Rights of our Mothers to appear like the morning star. We need the streams of blood to stop, to dry up. We need the long, long tears to be wiped from our eyes. We need to worship what we believe as we want.
Darfur is just the latest episode in a series of genocidal campaigns by the Sudanese Government. Amos Kur fled Sudan when he was nine, escaping the genocidal onslaught from the Government against black pastoralist tribes in the south of the country.
Would you like your Human Rights poem in the next newsletter? Send your submission to: editor@idahohumanrights.org We reserve the right to edit grammar and spelling of all submissions!
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Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations 1424 E. Sherman Suite 100 Coeur d'Alene ID 83814¡4045
Email: edi tor@idahohumanrigh ts. org
COMMITTED TO ]I-IE ELI.~ CIN ,-\TI ON OF PREJ UDICE AND BIGOTRY
HI HO, COME TO THE FAIR! A message from the Fair Chair JoAnn Harvey
Vice President Save these dates! AUGUST 24 - 28,
2005 . With so many new families moving into our area. this year¡ s Kootenai County Fair promises 10 be the biggest. What an opponunity to spread the word of the Task Force, and celebrate diversity with currenl fri ends and newcomers. Of course. that means we need our dedicated volunteers to staff our booth. and crew to help set up the day before the beginning. and another crew to help close up on Sunday evening. If you are planning to be in town on the above mentioned dates. I hope
you will be able to volunteer. Remember, you will receive a free admission for the entire day/night you arc there. So why not make a day of it. work the booth. then tay for the fun activities that can only be found at a coun1y fair? (Not 10 mention such treats as the huge elephant ears, collon candy, sizzling steak fajitas. and Polish sausages!) You can leave me a messaoe at 772-2409. or e mail jharvey@ imhris.com Of course, I will be callin !! folks before long. especially if I h;vc not heard from you. Thanks in advance, and thanks to so many volunteers throughout the years. You have made my job most enjoyable.
WE ADVOCTE
HUMANE RIGHTS
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2005
•
A WEEKLY LOOK AT COMMUNllY NEWS IN NORTH IDAHO
Human rights acrivist donates
terials to MC
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THE IDAHO SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Story by Cynthia Tagg011 I PAGE
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Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Re-.tew
Tony Stewart, North Idaho College Instructor and human rights activist, Is close to reUrement from teaching. So he Is donating some 70 scrapbooks, doz.ens of video tapes and letters, notes and memorabilia from his 35 years working for human rights In Coeur d'Alene to North Idaho College's llbra,y.
Jesse Tinsley/The Spokesman-Review
North Idaho College Instructor Tony Stewart, center, Is wor1dng with NIC librarians Ann Johnston, left, and Denise Clark, right, to put his entire collection of memorabilia from the local human rights movement Into the NIC llbarary's special collections.
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Saturday, September 24, 2005
Human
The first show w,ill explain the history of civil righ.ts in the t · l~·,i);.1.JJ-tl.l ., ht~ .. '\ ~J I;• I I United States, from slavery to segregation to the successful demand~ for eq~aJ rights that displaced white supremacists fro~ their longtt~ e homes. In 1973 when fonner Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler chose to settle in North Td~o, the Paci.fie Northwest showed the most potential as a white enclave, Stewart says. The white supremacists' first activities in 1980 led to the formation of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. That's where the first program will end
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The next four shows were taped in the 1980s as history was made with bombings in Coeur d'Alene, the birth of deadJy Aryan Nations spin-offs like the Order and community human rights rallies that attracted media from around the world. The final four or five shows are where Stewart will incorporate his collection the most. Those shows will cover
NIC recipient ofcollectim related to Kootenai County Task Fwee By Cynthia Taggart; CQrrespo11de111
T
he ballpoint pens and lists of scribbled names that Tony Stewart collected over 35 years may seem like worthless mementos to some. But those items are part of a priceless collection that could serve as the foundation for human rights task forces everywhere. ·'I have an incredible amount of materials, and I'm the only one who has them," Stewart says. "Recording history is so important. So many things happen that are of significance that are totally lost." Stewart vowed as a new North Idaho College political science instructor 36 years ago to save anything connected with NIC. Ten years later, Stewart helped form the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations and pledged to save everything connected with it. Now, he bas 16 boxes filled with memorabilia from the task force. Those boxes hold everything from the pen former Idaho Gov. Cecil Andrus used to sign human rights legislation to videotapes of the destruction of the watchtower at the Aryan Nations compound north of Hayden Lake. To celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, Stewart decided to donate his collection to NI C's library. "It's an invaluable resource to anyone doing research on the history of human rights movements," says Denise Clark, one of the NIC librarians working with the special collection. "It's a great tool for historians but also for any small community that wants to see how a successful task force operates." Stewart also plans to use the collection in a nine- or 10-part public affairs series that will air on public television stations in seven states and two Canadian provinces January through March. The documentary-style series will chronicle the history of the task force, from events that led to its birth through the transformation of the Aryan Nations compound into the Peace Park.
Continued: Hlstory/ 5.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
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Jesse Tinsley{The Spokesman-Review
Tony Stewart Is donating some 70 scrapbooks (llke this one), dozens of video tapes and letters, notes and memorabllla to NIC's library.
History Continued from 4 the years ince 1992. Stewart h video recordings of every press conferenc the ta k force scheduled. Pr conferenc aJwa were arranged ar und u h turning points the roadside attack on lhe Keenan family lhat led to the Aryan Nations demise in ortb Idaho. tewart plan to interview key playe in the task force and back up their tories with video clips and ther m m rabilia fr m his c Uection in traditional documentary tyle. His videos will includ a Hand A.er the Border ceremon in 199 d m n trating the lnJand ortbwest' commitment to human rights, and civil rights attorney Morris D peaking at the task force's annual human righ banquet t Uowing the trial that expelled the Aryan ations from ortb Idaho. They UaJ o include the last appearanc of Bill W muth. Wassmutb wa the t. Pius Catholic church priest whose ho e w bombed b lhe Aryan ations in the 19 . He wa the lead r of the Northw t oalition Again t Malici us Har m nt until be , a diagn ed with Lou Gehrig' disea e. W muth died
in 2002.
how it activities changed the Inland orthwest. Those people ma include a reporter and politician, he say . [ want to c lebrate 25 years and h w th history,' h says. Man civil rights group are 100 years old. but we may be the olde t human rights t k force in Lb country." Over the years town acr the nati n have invited tewart and other task force leaders to hare their experienc and help them launch imilar efforts. Stewart's c Uection and th public affairs seri NI is producing will expand the task force's reach, ay Clark. "We hope t digitize me of these materials and have om of th mot interesting n a Web site on th Internet o they're available to the public," he ay . M t higher learning in Litution in the region hare information on an Internet pipeline. lark ay NIC will add tewart 's collection t that pipelin for cl room use and r earch. The NI Publi Forum tel vi i n seri f th task C rce 25 years will tart in January and run for two months over Idaho Public Television, channel 12, on Saturda and pokane Public elevision, KSP channel 7, on Sunday. ¡ "You have to captur these things bet re it' t late, ' tewart a . " r m the t k f rce' perspective it' our gift to the populali o.¡
MONDAY,
OCT. 3, 2005
NEWS
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Task Force anniversary 1nsp1res PAGE 3 THE SENTINEL
donation Stewart gives human rights memorabilia from private collectio BY ALISON ATWELL - STAFF WRITER •
In honor of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations' 25-year anniversary, Tony Stewart, NIC political science instructor, will donate an estimated 16 boxes containing more than 70 albums of local human rights memorabilia from his personal collection to the Molstead Library. Stewart, NIC instructor of 35 years, is one of the original founding members of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Rights and has collected news articles, videos and pictures since the group began. He stumbled upon the albums while gathering material to include in a nine-week series that will run on the Public
Broadcasting Service's NIC Public Forum to chronicle the group's history. He announced his plans at an Aug. 31 press conference. "I have an incredible amount of materials, and I'm the only one who has them," said Stewart as quoted in the Spokesman-Review. "Recording history is so important. So many things happen that are of significance that are totally lost." 1n addition to articles, photos and videos, the anthology will include personal letters from political, religious and civil rights activists as well as items from the Lemons to Lemonade campaign held in 1998. Also included are pieces from the 1986 human rights rally in the city park, which was covered
by 40 media outlets from across the globe. so it may be viewed via internet once fu nds Denise Clark, librarian, first heard about the are available. "Because of the age of most of the items, donation in August, and says she is excited they need to be kept in a very about the content of the collection. cording controlled environment," "It gives an interesting and valuable Clark said. perspective on human rights. It is also history is so Stewart will organize the of great value to those fighting for important. So albums himself and bri ng human rights," she said. "They can , many things them to the library as they look at it and say, 'What did Kootenai of significance are finished, so it w ill take County do right?' and 'How can we do months for everyth ing to that?'" are los become available to stud ents. The library plans to store the but Clark said it will be well Tony Stewart compilation in archival storage with a worth the wait. -instructorclimate and humidity-controlled, acid She said, "It serves more free environment where it will be easy to than the basic purpose of a historical collection. supervise students, and eventually digitize it I call it living history."
• PAGE A 10
Monday, October 24, 2005 The Spokesman-Review Spokane. Wash/ Coeur d'Alene, Id:
IDAHO EDI 10
Memory lane
HUCKLEBERRIES
His rights didn't extend to stnoking
F
The Spokesman-Review
~~ -~ \
irst, you should 'I ' know that the late r . ,. .. I, •' Kootenai County t . '. Sheriff Larry ..;.. Broadbent was a big man with a big taste for nicotine. Also, in the Dave course of his law Ollverta enforcement career, Broadbent became the first North Idaho cop to recognize the threat posed by Richard Butler and his Aryan Nations compound. Onward. As part of a film eries about the 25-year history of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, Tony Stewart the North Idaho College instructor/human rights activist invited SR reporter Bill Morlin and me to discus th ta k force. Morlin covered the bad guys. I covered the good ones. Afterward, Stewart recalled the time that Broadbent demanded a pit top a tewart the late Bill Wassmuth and he were traveling together to Wyoming. And the trio pulled into a rest stop. Broadbent was dragging on a long cig when Wassmuth and Stewart emerged from the restrooms. Wassmuth ordered Broadbent to put it out and get in the car. Next thlng, Broadbent was crouched down by the ide of the car with a big knife pointed 2 inches from the front t;re. lf you move, he told Wassmuth, we'll be itting here for a while. Then, the big cop lei urely fini hed rus sm ke. And that incident became one of the ties that bound the two late human-rights giants together.
During the taping of the how, Mortin and I playfully jabbed each other about which i~e wa n_iore dangerou to report on. Morlm ubJects were thugs with guns bombs and evil intentions. And he covered them superbly. But there were time w~en things got touchy on my side, too. I rm ed the econd bigge t civic crime that supremacists committed in our mjd t the 1986 bombing of Coeur d'Alene. I was vacationing in KaJjspelJ whe~ my i ter informed me that they re blowmg up your town . But 1 didn't miss the bombing of Wassmuth's parish house hortly afte rward. I till remember the look on Wa muth face when I arrived early in the morning to report on the bomb that bad been planted in a trashcan by bis back tep : hock, fear dog-tired? . The bla t had ripped up the back of his home knocked out windows and sent hrapnel into the ceiling of the kjtcben and through a garage roof across the street. But for the grace of God . ..
Scary Umes at Noxon High Then there was the time l traveled with Wa muth Stewart Marshall Mend and African-American Walt Wa hington to oxon , Mont. to cover the task force's attempt to promote human-rights concepts in western Sanders ounty an a.r ea being overrun by racist activity at the time. I knew we were no longer in Idaho, Toto, when Montana cop in bulletproof vests met us at the tate line and escorted us to the high chool gym. A bout 400 resjdents packed the gym, including ome 40 racists in Nazi regalia at the back. When the peech began Stewart mentioned to Mend that the white birt he was wearing made him a prime target for anyone looking fo r one. I wa glad I was in. the audjence and could pretend I was tJIJ a northwest Montana resjdent if things got ugly. We urvived. The cops escorted us back to the Idaho border afterward. O nJ later did we truly realize the danger we'd been in.
The Big Apple Easily the dumbest thing Butler' disciples did was to bomb Coeur d Alene and Wassmuth' home. That raUied a community that had been debating whether it wa be t to confront the Aryan Nations menace or ignore it. The task force was truggling to make inroads into the busine communjty and most local politicians had their finger in the wind. Responding to a question at the time, Broadbent told a secret business gathering what would happen if the ta k force wasn't around. Instead of 60 Aryans he aid you'd be dealing with 600. The bombings shattered the apathy led to an outpouring of community upport for Wa muth and attracted the attention of the Raoul Wallenberg Committee, which bestowed its first civic award on Coeur d'Alene for its battle for human rights. At New York City Hall, with the world's media looking on, I heard Coeur d'Alene held up as a model for a raciaUy divided New York by civil rights giant Bayard Rustin and future mayor David Dinkins. And then Listened with Wassmutb and Broadbent as Coeur d Alene Mayor Ray tone eized the moment and gave the Continued: Huckleberrtes/ All
Hucklebenies:
Histoiy keeps
unfolding Continued from A10 peech of his life, telling of eeing the evil of racism a a young man ¡ when he helped Liberate a Nazi concentration camp.
Huckleberries I didn t intend to dedicate thi column to my 21 year of covering the task force. But there are o many memorie ... Of the hock that occurred at a ta k force new conference during the Ruby Ridge iege when we learned Rand Weaver 14-year-old on. Sam
Weaver bad been killed too ... Of Butler droning on about race traitor during an interview while he was runrung for Hayden mayor and of one of bi follower calling me 'rabbi ... Of visiting the deserted compound with Stewart after Butler had been ued into bankruptcy and seeing the burnt logs that d been used for crosses ... Of retracing the desperate escape route of Virginia and Ja on Keenan along Rimrock Road as they tried to escape Buller s bullies in hot pursuit ... Of Wa smuth and Broadbent now gone.
Parting shot I covered the ribbon-tier the lemons-to-lemonade makers, the tum-tbe-other-cbeekers the tortoises who plodded along consistent in message and purpo e, never realizing that I was watching Inland Northwest history unfolding.
NORTH • IDAHO • COLLEGE
FOUND~ TION September 28, 2005
Tony Stewa11 83816 Dear Tony: On behalf of North Idaho College and the NIC Foundation, it is my privilege to thank you for your gift of historical materials from the Human Rights Task Force's inception to the present. Your gift will be archived in the Molstead Library, where it will be held in special collections. In addition, it has been requested that some of the material be digitized so it can be available via the World Wide Web to share this important story. The College and this entire region are fortunate to have you as our friend and steward. Your efforts to ensure human rights and human dignity are always at the forefront are so crucial for our entire society to flourish. Your passion and leadership has and continues to make a significant impact not onl y here, but nationally, and we are honored to have you as a colleague and friend. Thank you for choosing to donate your lifetime of information to the NIC Library - the history will provide a pathway to a brighter future for all people.
Sincerely,
Triumph Over Hate Task force to present new exhibit; institute plans open house By BILL BULEY Staff writer
COEUR d'ALENE -A 110-pi exhibit will take vi itor from the Nazi oncentration camp of World War II to North Idaho re ident of today promoting human right . "Triumph Over Hate" will b part of a cli play and I tur cheduled to b gin 7 p.m. Monday at t. Piu X Catholic Church in oeur dAlene. It i b ing prented publicly for the fir t time by the Kootenai ountyTa k Fore on Human R lations. Tony tewart, ta k force ecStewart retary, aid th exhjbit will offer "up do in a very vivid way what hate i and how to overcom hate." "It' coming fac to fac with hate," he aid. "And it how our victory over hate. ' The 38-inch by 40-in h black-andwhite picture rn the exhibit contain many moving and haunting cen ' t wart said. EXHIBIT continued on CS
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the Aryan Nations and cont inued from C1 drove the group away. "One of the most eerie picThe tures we have is a poster done Human Rights in 1999. It shows the twin tow- Education ers in New York going up in Institute, 414 flames and smoke, two years Mullan Ave., G ee will al so open before Sept 11," he said. Norm Gissel, Coeur d'Alene its doors to attorney, will lecture on the the public at a grand opening doctrine of the Aryan Nations, celebration on International the white supremacist group Human Rights Day, 11 a.m. led by Richard Butler that Dec. 10. once called North Idaho home. The event will include tours He will also talk about how of the newly renovated facility "the horrors of Hitler's conand the unveiling of a 13,000centration camps would years pound, 16-foot-tall granite later lead to the Aryan Nations monument that is engraved compound and a detailed mes- with the Universal Declaration sage of hate." of Human Rights. Stewart will talk about how Greg Carr, human rights the community responded to leader and donor of the monuthat threat, promoted human ment, will be a guest speaker. rights and eventually defeated Carr was instrumental in
"Since our beginning in 2003, the institute's .board, staff and supporters have been planning for this day." JERRY GEE , HREI president the creation of the HREI after Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center and local lawyers won a lawsuit that bankrupted both Butler and the Aryan Nations in 2000. Butler, who died Sept 8, 2004, at his Hayden home, was forced to relinquish the names "Jesus Christ Christian," the "Aryan Nations," the compound and the group's future in the Inland Northwest The Gregory C. Carr Institute pledged $1 million to the HREI, the educational arm of the Kootenai County Task
Force for Human Relations, to create a world-class human rights education center in Coeur d'Alene. "Since our beginning in 2003, the institute's board, staff and suppor ters have been planning for this day," said Jerry Gee, president of the HREI. "The success of our organization and this grand opening can be attributed to the great support we have received from the community, in particular, all the volunteer and in-kind efforts to renovate our building."
Saturday, December 3, 2005
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Rumi Concert with Coleman Barks; Sunday, 1 p.m., double-feature films, "The Shakers,â&#x20AC;˘ and "Faustina" followed by Native American storyteller perfonnance, The Peacemakers Journey; the film, "Illusion" begins at 7 p.m.; all at Panida Theater, 300 N. Rrst Ave.; festival pass, $25 or single admission prices (or each event; call for details, 255-7801. Appllcatlons Available for Splrtt Lake Toys for Tots - parents can now pick up applications from the post office or from Joy Porter, 623-4221; return completed fonns to Spirit Lake Visions Inc. to be foiwarded on to the Marine Corps Reserve for gift delivery on Dec. 22; donations for the Santa Shop can be made at Spirit Lake Pawn. Lake City Playhouse Needs Volunteers - ushers and concession workers wanted for upcoming perfonnances at the playhouse, 1320 E. Garden Ave.; 667-1323, after hours press 5 # to leave a message on volunteer line. "Tropical Escape" Local Artist Exhibit - on display through Jan. 9 at Pend Oreille Arts Council Gallery in the Powerhouse Building. 120 E. Lake St, Sandpoint 263-6139.
Upcoming Zach Hants Vlolln Student Recital free, Sunday, 1 p.m. at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music Recital Hall, Moscow; 885-6231. University of Idaho Chorus and Vandaleers Concert - Sunday, 4 p.m. at the University Auditorium, Moscow; $5 adults, $3 students; 8856231. "The Trlump OVer Hate" Exhibit - ¡~ lecture and display Monday, 7 p.m. at SL Pius XRoman Catholic Church, 625 E. Haycraft, Coeur d'Alene; presented by the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations; for infonnation, contact Tony Stewart at 769-3325. Senior Dance - Tuesday, 7-9:30 p.m. at the Post Falls Senior Center, 1215 E. Third Ave.; featuring Bertie and Friends; cost $3.50; 773-9582. Forest Health Class Registration Deadline - Tuesday, is the deadline forthe class to be held Friday, from 8:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. 115 N. Second SL; the program is eligible for various college course credits; $10 registration; 446-1680.
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Tony Stewart of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Rights prepares " The Triumph Over Hate" exhibit Monday for the St. Pius X Catholic Church in Coeur d'Alene.
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The Press, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2005
For news or story ideas: Call City Editor Bill Buley at 664-8176 ext 2006; E-mail: bbuley@cdapress.com
Human Rights building to unveil changes Attorney Norm Gissel, Cd'A Mayor Sandi Bloem to speak at grand opening By TOM GREENE Staff writer
COEUR d' ALENE - Folks will have a chance to see what's underneath the tarp with a big red ribbon on it in front of the Human Rights Education Institute today. At 11 a.m., the institute will unveil its new 13,000-pound, 16-foot granite monument engraved with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and open the doors to the public after a four-month renovation. Norm Gissel, a local attorney and human rights activist, said memorializing the concept of human rights in a physical monument helps make for a healthy culture. "What this will do is help make permanent the ideas that human rights are essential ingredients in the democratic process," Gissel said. 'That the culture of America requires a high level of dignity and respect be accorded to each individual." Gissel will speak along with
Mayor Sandi Bloem at the institute's grand opening. Gregory Carr, who donated $1 million to the institute, was originally scheduled to speak but had to cancel at the last Gissel minute because he was called on an important trip to Africa by the president of Mozambique, said KJ Torgerson, the institute's acting executive director. Gissel is a longtime member of
the Kootenai County Task Force for Human Relations, which he described as the "action" side, and the Human Rights Education Institute as the "education" side. "He's an excellent speaker - very interesting to listen to," Torgerson said. Gissel said he believes one of the task force's next big challenges will be to bring attention to the rights of senior citizens. He said any reports of abuse of the elderly need close examination. RIGHTS continued on C7
RIGHTS
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''We don't think tho e thing are permis ible. If they happen at all, they're happening too frequently," he said. The event will also howcase the newly renovated institute' fir t exhibit, which feature 12 local arti ts tackling different aspect of the Univer al Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations. 'The point of doing it is to educate the ommunity on what their rights are - what the De laration of Human Rights are, ' Torger on said. Over 50 percent of the remodeling wa financed by about two dozen businesses and individual donors, Torger on aid. The institute is an integral part of the city's conceptual Four Corner project Some ideas the city has examined would be to close Mullan Avenue o it is contiguous to City Park with the institute being a key feature. Torger on aid they intend to completely overhaul the building in th next few year and will kick off a capital campaign thi summer. Future plan for the ite will be unveiled at the grand opening today. ''We will expand the size and really make it into a mod-
em facility," Torgerson said. The grand opening is today at 11 a.m. at 414 Mullan Avenue (formerly the Cultural Center). A celebration will follow at the Parkside Bistro. The public is encouraged to attend. Information: 81S.3001
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Sunday, December 11, 2005 The Spokesman-Review Spokane, Wash./Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
_ IDAHO EDITIO
Human rights center opens doors Surrounded by artwork on dlsplay, attorney Scott Reed applauds from the audience during the dedication ceremony for the new Human Rights Education Institute on Saturday In Coeur d'Alene. Reed's wife serves on the board of the Institute.
Leaders reflect on region's struggles In dedicating beginning of complex By Christopher Rodkey Staff wriier
Almost 25 years ago, 10 white supremacists stood behind Tony Stewart as he and otbers met in a church basement to discuss racist graffiti on a Hayden man's restaurant. The neo-Nazis were there to intimidate the small group of eight to 10 people who would later go on to become the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. But trus Saturday, surrounded by more than 100 supporters in a building with the smell of fresh paint on the walls, Stewart watched as the new Human Rights Education Institute opened. He and other human rights advocates reminisced about how far human rights had come in Idaho. from that small church basement in 1981 to a courtroom victory in 2000 that bankrupted the Aryan Nations into leaving Idaho. "It's a glorious moment," said Norman Gissel, a Lawyer in the court case that saw a jury return a $6.3 million judgment against the Aryan Nations and its founder, Richard Butler, after security guards from the white supremacist compound assaulted passers-by in 1998. 'In the whole, when the end of the Nazis was
Jesse Tinsley/Tlle Spokesman-Review
clear, it was the end of a chapter of a book about civil rights th.at was still being written," Gissel said. "This is an edifice to commemorate all those years of struggle. We wanted a marker to recognize the end, and we'll continue to strive for the fullness of democracy.' Some spent the event looking toward the fu-
ture of human rights in the state. "The work will never end," Stewart said. "There's always going to be hate and prejudjce that must be fought." For that reason and others, architectural Continued: lnstltute/B2
Institute: Arch is srudent-made Continued from 81
plan were unveiled for the Human Rights Education [n titute. which will be built next to and include the old Battery Building at the edge of oeur d'Alene' City Park. The building will house exhibits and erve a a center for human rights education in the Northwest. aid Jerry Gee, pre ident of the institute. A tall gateway with an arch welded by North Idaho College tudent frame a courtyard to the center, and fficial unveiled an 11-foot-tall granite monolith with the United Nation Univer al Declaration of Human Rights in ribed on the front. The monument was d nated by human rights benefactor Greg Carr in 2000 and wa waiting for a permanent
location. The in titute will be built m the next few years next to the city park and wiU feature meeting areas and exhibit room with th goal to educate, Gee aid. The Centennial Trail will run next to the building, and large \\indow will provide view of the park and Lake Coeur d'Alene. Renovation to the Battery Building. which stored batteries for the train traveling between pokane and Mullan, t ok place throughout the ummer. The remodeled building will erve as the home to the in titute while the re t of the complex i built in the next few years. aturday' ceremony featured peeches from local human rights leaders. Artwork repre en ting each of the 30 article in the Declaration of Human Rights was di ¡played on wall . and conceptual de ign for a logo for the institute designed by NIC students were hown.
Sunday Dec. 11, 2005
Human rights monument unveiled Group's mission to provide resolution to conflict, help reach common goals By CHRISTI WILHELM Staff writer
COEUR d'ALENE - A priest, a rabbi and an Abican-American evangelical reverend stared out at the visitors in the Human Rights Education Institute, and said ... "Amen," a whimsical papier mache art exhibit called "Three Men of God "
which depicts the freedom of thought, conscience and religion, was one of 30 pieces at the HREI's grand opening Saturday. Artist Judy Minter created ''Amen," which represents articles 1 and 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: All human beings are born free and equal, and everyone has the freedom to change his religion or belief either alone or a community. Also unveiled was a 13,000-pound, 16-foot granite monument outside the RIGHTS continued on A3
North Idaho College graphic design instructor Stan Knight, left, and students Maxine Whiteside, center, and Jessica Becker toured the grand opening of the Human Rights Education Institute Saturday. CHRISTI WILHELM/Press
RIGHTS
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renovated center. It was included in a $1 million pl dge to the in titute by hwnan rights leader Gregory Carr. Engraved on the monument i the preamble of the Univer al Declaration of Human Rights that wa penned by Eleanor Roo evelt and proclaimed by the General embly of the United ations on Dec. 10, 1948. The monument wa in talled by crane Nov. 29. Coeur d Alene is now on the map for the right rea ons, said Mayor andi Bloem. 'We're her to provide and create human rights awaren " aid IQ Torger on, a ting executive director of the in titute. Prior to unwrapping the monument, about 170 toured the institute where the art, each crafted to represent one of the 30 articles of the univeral declaration, were di played. The article and art peak of human dignity equal rights and freedoms, including a ylum from persecution, the right to life and the pirit of brotherhood. Torger on aid that not many people are familiar with the right . Our mis ion, he added i to provide a facility for that awarene . HREI' mis ion i to provide re olution to conflict and reach common goal . Artist Renee Bourque, a nonprofit development conultant, traveled to Kenya and Ethiopia and brought back 15
"No matter how aware people are, they need to know that civil rights need to exist more than they do." DAVID GARDNER, student
CHRISTI WILHELM/Press
Two of some 170 people lingered to admire a 13,000pound, 16-foot granite monument that was unveiled Saturday at the grand opening of the Human Rights Education Institute Saturday. The monument, which is part of a $1 million pledge from human rights leader Gregory Carr, has the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights engraved on it.
photos of a "forgotten people ' who walk four mile to get water, which i usually contaminated. Bourqu ' erie , 'The Hard hip Zone," depicts accurately the hard hip and famine thou and of people experience daily. 'The life expectancy i 47, the maternal mortality rate i 25 percent, 50 p rcent of children under tl1e ag of 5 die and 700 p ople every day
from AIDS in Ethiopia,' aid Bourque, who e u of article 25 be t describes her mis ion for human rights. It reads: Everyone ha the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of him elf and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and nece sary social ervices. A conceptual design for an add-on and expansion of
the existing building was also shown and described by architects Scott Cranston and Dell Hatch. The institute is located near the City Park in a warehouse, which was built in 1904 and used to hold train batteries. One of the design's key features and goals is that it become a gateway to Coeur d'Alene. Future plans for the institute include a more contemporary look with a lobby, rece1r tion area, gallery, cafe and a community gathering place, a gift shop and resource center, a computer lab, and outdoor spaces with more green space to bring outsiders in. Some future programs include a guest-speaker series called Democracy Enterprises in March and April, WorldDollar Day and Art on the Edge, a summer day camp for aspiring young artists. Torgerson said various forums, including anti-bullying and anti-hate campaigns, are also planned. Rebecca Bujko and David Gardner, both students in Priest River, said even though the school does not have an organized human rights club, most students have become more aware of human rights because of a new teacher who is passionate about it. 'No matter how aware people are, they n ed to know that civil rights need to exist more than they do." Gardner said. Now that the HREI has the building, the sky is the limit, Torgerson aid. "We're relying on the public to ask us for help. '
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..1.1.uu1,er,u1, \..,,u ur,,y T he Kootenai C oun ty Task F orce on Human Relations has helped create a PBS-TV series and an exhibit on its 25 years. The PBS special , a I 0-week series with Tony Stewart as progy-am producer of the North Idaho College TV Public Forum, is on Celebrating the 25-Year History of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations." It will air on PBS-TV stations from Jan. 7 to March 12, opening with a discussion on the civil rights movement in the South in the 1960s, which led groups like the Aryan Nations to look for new locations with few minori-
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ties. The Aryan Nations came to the lnJand Northwest in 1973 , settling near Hayden. Eight programs look at the task force's work from 1980 to 2005 . The final program features journaJists Bill Morlin and Dave Oliveria reviewing cove rage of the task force and the Aryan Nation. The progy-ams air at 6:30 p.m., Saturdays on Channel 12 and at I 0 a.m., Sundays on Channel 7. In addition, Tony and Norm Gissel of the task force have created an exhibit, "T he Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations: Triumph of Human
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Rights over Hate." It includes I 00 photos, posters, items and docume nts fro m the struggle against the Aryan Nation and hate in the region. It begins with a German concentration camp and the words, " Coming Face-to-Face with Hate: A Search for a World Beyond Hate." The task force's annuaJ meeting is at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 5, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 624 E. Haycraft in Coeur d' AJene. [ts Annual Gala Event Fund Raiser and Auction will be at 5 p.m. , Monday, Jan. 16, at 4365 Inverness Dr., in Post Falls. For information, call 765-3932.
KOOTENAI COUNTY TASK FORCE ON HUMAN RELATIONS . PRESENTS
Billy Mills in person Olympic Gold Medalist, 10,000 Meter Run, Tokyo, Japan, 1964 World Record Six Mile Run, San Diego, CA 1965 Seven American Records, Track and Field, 1965
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2005, 7PM NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE-SCHULER AUDITORIUM Tickets- Adult: $1 O • Children : $5 - At NIC Box Office - 769-7780 Can 't Afford Tickets Call Marshall Mend 772-6634
"Winning Spirit" Learn how to develop or improve your winning spirit
Billy Mill (Makoce Tekihila) Chronicled In lhe 1984 film Running Brave, Mills' Inspirational story began with humble beginnings as an Ogiala Sioux on lhe Pine Ridge Indian reservauon In South Dakota. Orphaned at age twelve, Mills moved on to a successful coPege career at the University of Kansas. progressed to Ide In the military as a marine llevtenant, and won 1h Gold Medal In the 10,000 Meter Run at the 1964 Olymplcs in Tokyo. No American had ev0< won the Gold Medal In Iha 10,000 met8fS. His victory is considered one ol the greatest upsets in Olympic history, and some have stated thal his perfom,ance a1 Tokyo was lhe grealest ach1evemen1 In modem times. Due to his profound achievements, holds legendary status among lhe Native American Indian community in the United States. BIiiy Is also the author of "Lessons of a Lakota A Young Man's Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding".
Running Brave air on hannel 19 al 1 pm aturday December 31 aturday January 7, unda January 8 Platinum Sponsors Pioneer Title Co. • North Idaho Title Co. • Coeur d'Alene Press • Marshall Mend Gold Sponsors Alliance Title Co. • Land America Lawyers Title Co. • Alliance Title Co. Silver Sponsors Coeur d'Alene Tribe • Stewart Title Co. • Kootenai County Title Co.
January 2006 - The Fig Tree - Page 3
Professor produces hum(!,n rights TV series For a I 0-week, half-hour PB special documentary series on the 25-year history of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, Tony Stewart reviewed hundreds of articles, videos and letters in his personal file . The how will air at IO a.m ., Sundays, beginning on Jan. 8, on KSPS channel 7 in Eastern Washington- on cable channel 12 at 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturdays, beginning Jan. 7, in North Idaho, and on other public broadcasting tations that reach Western Canada Idaho Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Tony a professor of poli~cal cience at North Idaho Coll ge (NIC host and produce 'The Public Forum" TV hows and coordinates the Popcorn Forum Lecture erie . He began the Popcorn Forums hortly after he came to NI 36 years ago from North Carolinaand aft.er one year on the faculty at Washington State University in 1970. Along with preparation of the series, Tony donated his personal human rights collection to the NIC library, which already has the 1,200 from the Popcorn Forums
Tony Stewart and Public Forum . His collection which goes back before the task force, tells a history of the region, he said. The materials will be put into digital format and be on the North Idaho website. "I Jived through the process of human rights ad vocacy in the area keeping memorabilia, even papers from other parts of the country and letters from civi l rights and national leaders said Tony, who worked through the
sum.mer on the series, which he did to honor tho e who worked for human right in the task force and around the Northwest. 'I want future generations, especially future students at NIC to learn from these materials to gain a sense of history so they will have courage to act when it's necessary," Tony said. "I gained courage from those who went before or were contemporary usan 8. Anthony, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 'I hope that as student learn about history they will decide to continue to pa on the torch ' be aid. 'I grew up in North Carolina in the 1960 during the time of Dr. }(jng and the civil right movement. l was geographically close, and was a tudent of political science and history. "Ever since I was a young boy, I have bad a passion about people's dignity and rights. I never dreamed that some day I would be as personally involved as I have been here in such an effort,'' commented Tony who has shared the story of the task force's work for human rights at many churches and organizations. For information ca ll (208) 769-3325.
papier-mache, painting and photographic art accompany words from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the walls of the newly opened Human Rjghts Education lnstjrute Center at 414 S. Mullen in Coeur d'Alene. At its opening on Dec. I0--Human Rights Day- the institute's board and the Kootenaj County Task Force on Human Relations re viewed the 25-year huma.n rights epic of the lnland Northwest and painted a picture of the future. The task force started in early February 1981 to deal with the arrival of Nazis in the region, so its opening is a kick-off for upcoming events observing the 25th anniversary. Nonn Gissel, an attorney with the task force who helped Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center win the legal challenge that closed down the Aryan Nations in North Idaho, stressed the need for the institute to make permanent the idea that human rights are essential to the democratic process. "American culture requires a high level of dignity and respect for people " he said. Norm told of recently speaking to five citizens of Azerbaijan who have the same constitution and bill of rights as the United States. One told him, "The difference is that you believe them and that your government acts to protect those rights." "To do nothing in response to the Nazis would have been a terrible mistake. Tony Stewart and Marshall Mend decided to act," Nonn said. "With no idea of what the future held they set goals based on their beliefs of western culture in freedom and equality. We struggled and worked together with others in Idaho, the Inland Northwest and the Northwest," he said. "There were moments of anger and frustration, but finally the Nazis moved from the land, understanding that they had lost the cultural struggle. Often that doesn't happen, but the jury verdiet of Keenan v. the Aryan Nation said clearly that there wouJd be no more Nazis here."
Nonn shared words of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, as Bayard presented the Wallenburg Award to task force representatives in New York: "The history of civil rights is a history of cities- Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, Chicago-and now we add Coeur d' Alene." "I first thought he was overly generous, but as I stand here today, I realize it was not an overstatement as we understand the epic journey we have been engaged in," Norm said. For him, it's less about winning a legal case and more a matter of continuing the role of Coeur d ' Alene in civil rights into the future. Stephanie Mills, reading a statement by Senator Mike Crapo, recalled the role of Rosa Parks in 1955 not giving up her seat and beginning the 7disintegration of bigotry and segregation in the United States. 'Segregation on public transportation became unconstitutional and the emerging movement transformed Martin Luther King, Jr., into a civil rights leader," the senator wrote. 'People whether they act alone or together can create change. I'm proud that the people of Coeur d' Alene lent energy to support the values of human rights." He recalled that 25 years ago a small fraction of the population, who were outsiders, brought hate and intolerance to the region, but the Kootenai County Task Force for Human Relations stood up against them. "The HREI will expand Coeur d' Alene's commitment to democracy and tolerance, serving as a world-class clearinghouse of education and advocacy for human rights and dignity, and upholding the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights," he concluded. Coeur d'Alene Mayor Sandi
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"Everyone bas the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association ... to freedom of opinion and expression ... to impart ideas through any media" reads a quote from the declaration posted beside this 3-D rendition of a protester.
Bloem praised the courage of those who kept hate and bigotry from defining the community. "Our work is never done. Future generations must understand history and keep up fighting for peace and for welcoming all," she said. Mary Lou Reed and John Gee, HREI founders, recognized several people who have made it possible to open the center, including philanthropist Gregg Carr, who donated $ I million to the institute, and others who helped with developing the strategic plan and educational resources, with transforming the historic battery building and former Cultural Center into the Human Rights Education Center and with plans for its future expansion. Mary Lou said the building at Coeur d ' Alene Park, built in 1904 as a warehouse for electric batteries for trains, wiU be incorporated into the new structure. Architect Scott Cranston presented the design for the new structure with landscaping "as important as the building, making the outdoor, public spaces part of the Centennial Trail and dovetailing into the park and the Four Comers,'' he said. "Large windows will connect those inside to the outdoors and the lake, and will pique curiosity of those outside to come into the building," he said. There will be exhibit space
and conference meeting rooms, a library and research center for the educational function. There will be a casual place for visitors to sit and discuss what they experience. Mary Lou said a capital campaign is underway. Programs planned for coming months include Martin Luther King Week, a PBS special on the 25 years of work, a spring speakers series in March and April, the task force's annual meeting on March 20, a film series, World Dollar Day, launching efforts for the school districts to promote human rights, hosting a summer day camp and preparing traveling exhibits. While the HREI searches for a new director, K.J. Torgerson is the institute's acting director. For the unveiling of an outdoor monument, Freeman Duncan, an attorney, reminded those at the celebration that on Dec. I 0, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Its opening words are engraved on a 13 200-pound, 11-by-five-foot granite monument at the entry to the center. "The declaration," he said, "recognizes dignity as the basis for equality and freedom. It protects human rights by law,. recognizing the worth of the human person, equal rights of men and women. It sets a common standard to achieve for all people and nations to teach, educate and promote respect for freedoms."
In an interview after the event, Noan said the day "expiated my soul for the guilt I felt in 1963, as a white man driving through Alabama, where four girls bad been killed on Sept. 18 when the K.Ju Klux Klan bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church out of their desire to kill blacks. "Today, I could feel those four girls saying, ' Apology accepted.' While history books may not name them, I remember them: Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Diane Wesley and Carole Robertson." Norm pointed out that the road to civil rights is strewn with the blood of martyrs- Emmett Till, Martin Luth.e r King, Jr., Medgar Evers and many others. It is also strewn with the courage of those who stood up against hate and bigotry, such as Bill Wassmuth and many others in this region. ''We need to teach future generations," Norm said. ''We cannot assume people will naturally respect others and learn from history. Generally, I have not met a young person who is more racist than his or her parents. I hope that as those spreading hate die, we will be released strand by strand. We are making progress. "It's hard to explain racism to my grandson, but he still needs to understand about it, or racism will raise its ugly head again," Norm said. For information, call 762-4407.
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Spokane native Hsia-Jung Chang returns to play with the Symphony PAGE 21
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EASTERN WASHI
cumulruous 25-year growth experience that presented North daho with some of its proudest and most shameful moments may ecome a recipe for success for the rest of the world starting tms month . The grassroots task force that sprang to life in reaction ro white supremacist hate activities in North Idaho is sharing the lessons it learned on the rugged road that culminated in the Aryan Nation's exit from the Inland Northwest. "It seemed to me, it just had to be done," says Tony Stewart, one of the founders of the Coeur d'Alene-based Kootenai County Task Force oo Human Relations. "We want to show a record of our history and let other communities learn from it." A nine-pan public television series on Kootenai County's human rights task force begins tms week. Stewart, a political science instructor at North Idaho College. also donated to the NIC Library his collection of task force memorabilia that spans 25 years. The 16 boxes arc packed with task force activity-related news videos, newspaper clippings, documents, lists of event speakers and media attendees from around the world and more. ~
'"Recording history is so important." Stewart says. "So many things happen that are of significance that get totally lost. I didn't want that to happen;' NIC will use the collection for classroom instruction and share it with other lea.ming institutions. Denise Clark, one ofNIC's library spe· cialists, says the library evenrually will create a Web site with parts of the collection for public access. 'It's a great tool for historians and for any small community that wants to sec how a successful task force operates," Clark says ...It's an invaluable resource."
T?
e task force story offered on public tel.evision through NIC's Public Affairs programming is a factual and unemotional account fa highly dramatic period in North Idaho's history. Stewart's goal is characteristically academic - to teach and not ro entertain. He says he hopes the task force story will inspire communities everywhere to form grassroots task forces that protect human rights. But stomach-churning drama is evidcm in every recollection
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HUMAN RIGHTS A new PBS series shows how North Idaho won its decades-long fight against hate CYNTHIA TAGGART
INLAND NORTHWEST
NEWS
"NORTH IDAHO'S EXAMPLE," CONT. .. Stewart's guests relate on the show, from their reactions to North Idaho's first cross-burnings and paintings of swastikas to their relief over the judicial decision that ultimately chased white supremacists from the area. Marshall Mend, a longtime task force member, conveys that relief clearly in the eighth program as video shows the 200 l demolition of the Aryan Nation compound in Hayden Lake. ''It was a good feeling seeing that sml:T come down," Mend says. As he speaks, viewers see a backhoe pulling down an incimidating watch tower. "That \>\ras a great day for human rights, for Idaho, for the world." Stewart combined old video footage with new for the nine-part series. To set the scene, he opens with a look at the civil rights history that led to white supremacists settling in the Inland Northwest.. Civil rights movements in the 1960s and 1970s were success· fuJ enough to force die-hard hare groups to search for an area as close to all-white as possible. In 1973, Richard Butler, leader of the Aryan Nation, discovered
North Idaho. In 1980, North Idaho discovered Richard Butler after a restaurant owned bya J ewish man was the target of neoNazi vandalism. Stewart's program recounts the initial shock and confusion among local citizens and the determination of ooe woman, Dina Tanners that eventually led to the birth of the Kootenai Cow1tyTask Force on Human Relations in 198] . The three shows that KCTFHR founder Tony Stewart follow were recorded during the task force 's damaged. Members of both Order first decade and include interviews groups were connected to murders by Coeur d'Alene human rights in other areas. leaders Bill Wassmuth and Larry The programs show the commuBroadbent. (Both are dead now.) nity's mixed response to the while The men discuss white supremasupremacisl presence and the task cist bombings of Coeur d 'Alene's force's commitment to respect civil federal building and Wassmuth ·s rights without attracting too much home and the rise of deadly splin· attention to the Aryan Nation. ter groups Order 1 and Order 2. Stewart recorded the five remain· No one \>\'3.S injured in the bombing shows this fall. They show the ings, but Wassmuth's home was
task force's growing movement to spread the message of the inlpor· tance of human rights. The pro· grams begin with white suprema· cist death plots against Wassmu th and Mend in 1992. The FBI said I was on a hit list and to check my car before I went out," Mend says on the show. He wasn't cowed. He headed to a skinhead rally in Colville and told the crowd mat had gathered in protest to speak up. ·'I told them silence gives con· sent. Stand up for human rights," he says, repeating the task force's guiding philosophy. The task force had begun LO reacl1 beyond North Idaho by then. Stewart tells of his travels to Asheville, N .C., where me Ku Klux Klan was moving inoo a higher gear. Stewart offered support and explained how the North ldaJ10 community had rallied against hate activities. "It was very rewarding," he says. c programs cover the pread of grassroots human rights protection to Bonner County, an i.nternatiooal conference on human rights at NIC and the birth of a peace camp to reinforce the importance of human rights with teenagers. dThe best way to reach out is to do something for kids," says Lucy Lipinski, a task force member who helped organize the camp. ~
The chronological series covers every major e enc pcnain· ing to white supremacist activity in North Idaho. The underlying message stays the same: Communities need to unite in their rejection of hate groups. The 1998 Lemons co Lemonade campaign is possibly the most dramatic example of how effective this strategy is. Doug Cresswell was presi· dent of the task force that year and relates on Stewart s program the challenge to the group when Richard Butler announced plans for a 100-man march down Coeur d'Alene s main street. The task force found its response to the march in Pennsylvania, where a town had countered a hate march by taking pledges on how long it would last. The money it collected went to human rights causes. "We asked people to pledge cents per minute the Aryan Nation marched," Cresswell says. "The longer and slower they marched, the more money we raised for human rights." The campaign raised $35 000 the task force distributed to 13 human rights causes. "We reached checkmate with the Aryan Nation, Stewart says, sharing a smile with Cresswell. "We got national and international attention. It was a great way to do something without confrontation. The attention paid off more
than anyone expected. When Aryan Nation security guards shot at a car passing on the pub· lie road, then chased passengers Victoria and Jason Keenan that year the Kccnans remembered reading about the task force. They called a woman connected to the group and began the demise of the Aryan Nation in North Idaho. Norm Gissel, the Coeur d J\lene attorney who took the civil case that grew from the attack, recounts on Stewart's program writing to the Southern Poverty Law Center and asking for help. Morris Dees a noted attorney who had bested the Ku Klux Klan in court numerous rimes, agreed to work with Gissel. A court eventually awarded the Keenans $6.3 million in damages, forcing the Aryan Nation to tum over .to them its 20-acre compound. Gissei a devoted task force member, shares with the public that bringing down the Aryan Nation was probably the most important act of his life. "Norm, you're truly a hero for all the work," Stewart says during one of the program's rare emotional moments. "You've given an incredible gift to all the country."
S
tewart invited Spolusman&uiew reporters Bill Morlio
and David Oliveria for the final program. The two reporters followed the Aryan Nation and
the task force from their begin· nings in North Idaho. Morlio became known nationally as a media expert on white suprema· cist activity. Oliveria accompa· nied Coeur d'Alene human rights leaders to New York City in 1987 to accept the Raoul Wallenberg Award for defense of human rights. He attended with media from around the world. The reporters laud the task force for their strategy with the media. Stewart admits his group had no money for publicity so depended on the media to spread its message. The media helped the task force become the recog· nized voice of human rights, first in North Idaho, then beyond. Morlio wraps up the series neatly with possibly the most important message for viewers. "Key members of the task force arc still here. They stood together, all focused on commu· nity issues," he says. "The task force really is a model the rest of the country should look at." •
The 6nt installment of~ nine-part series, NortA Idaho College Public Forum: Cekbraling 1M 25-Year Hist.ory ,flM Kootenai ~ 'Taslt: Foru on Human Re/alums, ain on Sanday,Jan. 8, at 10 am OD KSPS Channel 7 and runs weekly through March 12. The series also will show OD KU1D-1V Channel 12 oD Saturdays at 7 am and again at 6:30 pm.
a,.. BUSINESS
Stocks 5
Hot dog! Ataste of Chicago C
The Press, Friday, Jan. 13, 2006
For news or story ideas: Call City Editor Bill Buley at 664-8176 ext. 2006; E-mail: bbuley@cdapress.com
Olympic champ tells fifth-graders our greatest challenge is perception Mills speaks to 600-plus students in conjuction with Martin Luther King Day By LINDA BALL Staff writer COEUR d' ALENE - Billy Mills overcame many obstacles in life to get where he is. He was an orphan by the age of 12, diagnosed with diabetes in 1963 and was chided for being an Indian for most of his life. None of that slowed the 1964 Olympic gold medalist, who shared his message
of perseverance with about 650 filth-graders at Skyway Elementary School on Thursday. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations brought Mills to town in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Monday. "What I took .from sports is the greatest challenge you and I face today," Mills said. 'The greatest challenge we face is perception, not Iraq or the threat of nuclear war." JASON HUNT/Press He told the story of being at the 1992 Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills speaks to fifth-graders Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He and his Thursda y at Skyview Elementary about perception. More family were enjoying a meal at a than 600 fifth-graders from around Koot eani County MILLS continued on C2 gathered to listen to him speak.
MILLS
continued from C1
restaurant when they overheard some men talking about how the greatest race was in 1964 when that ulnclian guy" won. Wondering where he might be today, they said ~e's probably an alcoholic or drug addicted -that's what happens to Indians." "That day, perceptions broke me," Mills said. His daughters knew better because alcohol has never touched their father's lips. Mills finally addressed the men, but he did not identify himself at first. When he did, they apologized and he asked them where they got that information. That was their perception, he told the assembly. Mills said that values are and always will be sacred. The 1983 movie about his life, "Running Brave," was shown to all the students prior to his speech. Referencing the film, the 67-year-old said that Robby Benson, the actor who portrayed him in the film, runs faster than he does today.
Gala info â&#x20AC;˘ The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations will hold its annual gala and fund-raiser Monday evening from 5-9 p.m. at the old clubhouse at the Highlands Golf Course. Tickets are $25. Call 765-3932 for tickets.
He related a story about running a race with Benson some years back, wearing "Rwming Brave" T-shirts, and several children were pointing at Benson shouting, "there he is - Running Brave!' "That's perception," Mills said, noting that Benson is Jewish. Mills told the Skyway assembly that we live in strange times with businesses being redesigned and countries being restructured. He said that winning the gold medal in the 10,000 meters in Tokyo and being the only American to win that Olympic race isn't what's important, rather, it is important to find
your dream. "It's the pursuit of your passion that heals you," Mills said. His passion was running. "We all have one gift," Mills said. "Search deep and find that gift 'The warrior seeks to understand," he said. ''We must promote unity through diversity." When the question-andanswer part of the program opened up, hands shot up all over the multi-purpose room. "Did you ever meet Martin Luther King?" asked Dylan Johnson of Hayden Meadows. Mills said he did not, but he did have the honor of meeting the late Thurgood Marshall, best known for winning the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark case that demolished the legal basis for segregation in America. Ramsey Elementary students J.J. Merwin, Dylan Shapland and Ryan Chidester said they all learned a lesson in perseverance. Taking a line from Mills' story, Shapland said, "always follow your dreams; keep the wings of an eagle."
Carrying the tarch
Jesse llnsley/lhe Spokesman-Rel'lew
Amy Danner, rtght, a fifth.grader from Skyway Elementary, llghts a candle whlle speaker BIiiy MIils, left, watches on the stage of Schuler Audltortum 'at North Idaho College on Frtday morning. The candle In the center was used to llght 14 candles, one for each of the elementary schools represented by the fifth.graders at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebratlon.
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Saturday, January 14, 2008 The Spokesman-Review Spokane, Wash/ Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
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Medalist's story takes center stage Olympic runner
Billy Mills tells students ofbeating the odds at
MLKJr. Day event
By Ruha Madkour Staff writ~,
Billy Mills lost both his parents by the age of 12. He lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, one of the poorest communities in the country. The unemployment rate was 80 percent. He endured racism and prejudice growing up. Yet he overcame all that to become an Olympic gold medalist and the only American to win the 10,000-meter run. Education officials hoped his story would teach, inspire and encourage local fifth-graders. In their classes, they showed the 1983 film "Running Brave," starring Robby Benson, based on Mills' surprising win in 1964. They had students write essays about how they could make a difference in the world. The activities culminated Friday at the 21st
annual Human Rights Celebration. Students from each of the 14 Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls elementary schools-about 1,140 kids- gathered at North Idaho College to sing, dance and read their essays. Kaeleen Mallery, from Winton Elementary, said she aims to be a better listener and think about how words affect people. She hopes to get a job where shecanhelppeople. "Fornow,"Kaeleensaid, "I'm making sure I give more than I take." People should stop spending money on silly things and instead help the poor and abused, said Vanessa Rutkowski from Ponderosa Elementary. Rutkowski urged people not to wait until "someday" to lend a hand. 'Why don't you make someday today?" she said. Hanna Olvera, a Ramsey Elementary student, said she could change the world by setting a good
example, being kinder and standing up for others. "Being polite can be contagious," Olvera said. The fifth-graders also listened to a brief talk by Mills, 67, who was 26 years old when he won his gold medal. He related the story of a fishing trip he took with his father after his mother died. His father said he saw in Mills anger over her death, hate from the racism he experienced and jealousy of material goods he lacked. Under all those emotions, his father said, was a dream. ¡'It's the pursuit of the dream that will heal you,'' Mills recalled his father saying. "Find your dream." Mills found it - in running. But even after earning the highest honor in sports, Mills still battled the stereotypes of others. He recounted an incident when he was having Contlnued: Mllls/86
Mills: Battled
stereotypes after victory Continued from Bl dinner with his family during the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. At a nearby table, some men were talking about the day's races and historic Olympic upsets. Someone brought up Lhe race in which Mills, a relative unknown then, came out of nowhere to take the lead. Speculating on what had become of the young runner, one of the men. according to Mills, remarked, "He's probably alcoholic. He's probably drug-addicted. That's the way aU Jndians are."
Mills said he was deeply hurt by the comments, because he has never consumed alcohol or taken drugs. He confronted the men and told them that Bi Uy Mills was raising millions of dollars for relief efforts and speaking to children about dreams and values. On Friday, he used the story to warn the fifth-graders against "perceptions.' Tony Stewart, an NlC political science professor who helped coordinate the event, said more than 25,000 fifth-graders in the past 21 years have beard speakers like Mills. The oldest are in their 30s now. "It really plants a powerful seed." Stewart said. Every holiday has its message, he said. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, "people should pause to say: ¡How do T treat people?' ' â&#x20AC;˘ Rasha Madkour can be reached at (208) 765-7132 or rasham@spokesman.com.
~s
FASTEST GROWING NEWSPAPER
Saturday Jan. 14,2006
OU BEST Devin Koch, 10, watches a video about Martin Luther King Jr. during the 21st Annual Human Rights Celebration at North Idaho College's Schuler Audjtorium on Friday. The assembly wrapped up a week of activities centered around giving our youth a better understanding of human rights. JEROME A. POLLOS/Press
Area :fifth-graders attend human-rights celebration By LINDA BALL Staff writer COEUR d' ALENE Changing the World One St p at a Time wa the theme of Friday' 21 l Annual Human Right Celebration at orth Idaho oll ge. Fifth-grad tudent from all 14 elementary hool in Po t Fall and Co ur d'Alene gathered in huler Auditorium to learn about
human rights through peeche , ong and vi ual effects. ''We are teaching people to support equality and justice, and it' never too early to tart," aid Tony tewart, North Idaho College political science instructor and human right' a tivist TI1e a embly wrapped up a week of a tivitie centered around human rights. tudents were treated to a PowerPoint presentation about
the life of lain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., accompanied by the ong "I have a Dream.' St. Maries High School exchange tudent Rovlan Aliyev, from Azerbaijan, formerly a piece of the oviet nion, spoke about how human right had not been een in hi country until the USSR broke up. RIGHTS continued on A10
A 10 THE PRESS Saturday, January 14, 2006
RIGHTS
''We can change the world by displaying confidence, continued from A 1 respect, hope, joy and kindness," said Jacob TrumbeU of He is hoping to introduce Fernan Elementary. some of his culture to his felI can make the world low students and is learning a better place by donating from their culture as well. my services to the poor and "Americans realize that homeless," said Mullan Trail's· freedom is God's gift to every Michael Halterman. man and woman in the world," Hanna Olvera from Ramsey Aliyev said. Elementary said that "being One student from each of polite was contagious." the 14 schools was chosen to "I can make the world a read their "I believe" statement better place by treating others to the packed auditorium. how I would like to be treat-
· North Idaho ed," said Tiffaney Blas from Sorensen Elementary. Vanessa Rutkowski from Ponderosa Elementary made a passionate plea for equality for all. ''More people should stop spending money on silly things they don't really need and start putting more aside for poor women and children in other countries who are forced to do things they don't want to do," Vanessa said. "My solution is to teach people to be kind to others and let the world know
that abuse is wrong." The event was coordinated by Pam Pratt, the principal at Skyway Elementary. Pratt and Borah Elementary School principal Bob Shamberg were the emcees of the multi-media event. "It doesn't matter if you are physically or mentally .challenged or if we are tall or short or large or small," Shamberg said. "It doesn't matter if we are rich or we are poor." Olympic gold medalist and inspirational speaker Billy Mills, who addressed the stu-
dents Thursday in a separale event, spoke briefly, driving home his message of unily through diversity. "Ghandi said' become the change you want to see in th world," Mills said of his mentor. Skyway's Ribbon and Body Sox dancers perfonned a colorful interpretive dance to the music "Bird Song." ·me Body Sox dancers are hidden inside huge socks made out of Lycraspandex that they can se through. It created an interesting visual as they acted out a variety
of emotions and thoughts. "All my kids experience them," said Teri Hamilton, th physical education teacher at Skyway Elementary. 'They learn to manipulate them to ten a story or a thought without words. It's another medium of expression." The assembly ended with Mills lighting a large pillar candle, the friendship flame. Each of the school representatives then lit an individual candle and placed it in a circle around the pillar, signifying their unity.
Spol\ane, Wash./ Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Page '.
COMMUNITY
Gold medalist speaks about respecting yourself By Kathleen Mary Anderson Correspo/Ul1mt
It was the night of Oct.14, 1964. at the Olympic games in Tokyo that the unknown Billy Mills placed his foot on the starting block. I le had been there one week and not one reporter had talked to him. That was not surprising: the 26-year-old from South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation had only run five 10,00) meter races in his life and had won none of them. Mills' strategy was to hang in with the top leaders until the last lap. If he could do this, he felt he had a chance for victory. Mills was first to cross the tape, \vinning in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history and becoming the first American in more than 100 years to take home the gold for this event. When mobbed by the press after the race. one reporter asked in disbelief "Who are you?" A motivational speaker. Mills on Thursday presented ..Winning Spirit," the philosophy of how to develop or improve your winning spirit, to an audience at North Idaho College. Although the reporters at the 1964 Olympics might not have known him, Mills would never forget the long road he had traveled from his humble bel!innings.
BIiiy MIiis holds his Olymplc gold medal.
Mills was born in the summer of 1938 to parents of mixed ancestry, bis mother a Oglala Sioux on the reservation and bis father from the mainstream white society. He felt unaccepted in both societies. His mother died when he was 7 and he lost his father five years later. Orphaned at 12. he took his father's advice and pursued athletics as a means of escaping poverty, alcoholism and the gnawing hopelessness that existed in so many on the reservation. Tn 1953 Mills attended the Haskell Institute in Kansas. where he started to run compelilively, breaking the state record for the two-mile in his sophomore year and then breaking another running record in his senior year. Although he was highly recruited by other universities, Mills decided to run for the University of Kansas. While popular among the students, he still found himself isolated from certain activities, such as the fraternities, and felt he did not fit in. At one point during his junior year his despair became so great he nearly took his own life. Then a confrontation between the troubled Mills and his coach precipitated a
His message, he says, -is about gi.ving respect and love to rmeself, to dig deep within yourselfand find your potential. temporary breaJ...'llp in the relatiooship and took a toll on Mills' desire to run. Jn his final marathon for the university, he dropped out of the competition and returned to Pine Ridge. Returning home was an eye-opening reminder of U1e destitution and poverty of reservation life. The death of two of bis acquaintances after consuming a bottle of antifreeze motivated Mills to return to the university with a renewed entlmsiasm. He graduated \vith a degree in education, married a fellow college student, Patricia Harris, and joined the Marine Corps. While at Camp Pendleton, Calif.. Mills began training wiili another maratl10ner. The two men would run as much as 34 miles a day. As he ran, Mills imagined that be was racing the 10,oo:>-meter run against ilie world
record holder, Australian Ron Clarke. His wish became a reality when he qualified for the Olympics by placing a distant second to Gerry Lindgren, a teenage phenomenon at the time. Mills wrote in his journal only two weeks before d1e Olympics, "Gold Medal." He was not just running to win , he was running to find himself. No one expected Mills to even be competitive at the Olympics, but he showed his determination tllat day in October. He was almost denied a pair of running shoes as he was told "We only have enough for tllose who we expect to do well," he recalls. As the announcers had little reason to mention his name at tile beginning, it was during the last two laps that they were astonished to discover that he was in fourth place. While tile favorite Clarke still led the race on the last lap, Mills silently moved into second place. The Australian inadvertently bumped Mills, causing him to stumble, but Mills recovered only to be replaced by another runner. With only 100 meters to go. Mills used all his energy to push ahead. flying b}t Ganunoudi from Tunisia and Clarke. Mills stunned the crowd and the press by not only by crossing the rain-soaked finish line but setting a new Olympic record. In one report
BIiiy MIiis crossing the finish llne during the 1964 Olympics. He won the gold In the 10,000 meter race In Tokyo.
iliat day, Clarke was asked by reporters if he had been worried about Mills. Clarke responded "Worried about him? I had never heard of him." 1n 1983, Mills' story was transformed into a movie starring Robbie Benson and titled "Running Brave." The following year a documentary was produced about his life and became a part of the promotional campaign for the 1984 Olympics. Mills' life is not just about sports. It's about winning. It's about determination, drive and a strong need to motivate iliose he touches. Mills speaks \vith a gentle voice which conveys bis modest and
unassuming manner. His message, he says, is about giving respect and love to oneself, to dig deep within yourself and find your potential. "I always tell people to challenge yourself to live up lo values." Mills says. " U you are going to stumble, then pick yourself up and keep going." Mills tells bis audience about the importance of family values and ilie strength of our unity as a society. A primary role he cherishes is that of the national spokesman for Running Strong, a nonprofit organization that helps American Indian Youth. ln 1999, Mills co-authored a book with writer Nicholas Sparks titled, "Wokini," or "seeking a new beginning,' How does Mill want to be remembered? 'Don't ask for repayment on things you do. but ask that person to help someone else who needs it." he said.
I
KOOTENAI COUNTY TASK FORCE ON HUMAN RELATIONS PRESENTS
Billy Mills in person Olympic Gold Medalist, 10,000 Meter Run, Tokyo , Japan, 1964 World Record Six Mile Run , San Diego, CA 1965 Seven American Records, Track and Field , 1965
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2005, 7PM NORTH IDAHO COLLEGE-SCHULER AUDITORIUM Tickets- Adult: $10 • Children: $5 -At NIC Box Office - 769-7780 Can 't Afford Tickets Call Marshall Mend 772-6634
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''Winning Spirit" Learn how to develop or improve your winning spirit
Billy Mills (Makoce Tekihila) Chroniclod In the 1984 film Running Brave, MIiis' lnapltattonal story Degan with humble beg nnlngs as en Oglala Sioux on 1110 Pina Ridge Indian reservauon In S0U1h Dakota Orphanod at ago twatve, MIiia moved on 10 a aucces.stul college career at th9 UnN'o,sity of Kansas, progressed 10 Ide ,n tho military as a ma1ane 1ieU1enan1, and w on lhe Gold Medal In the 10.000 Meter Run at the 1964 Olympic$ In Tokyo. No Amarbn llad ewr won lhe Gold Modal In lhe l 0,000 meto,., His vlctOI)' Is consldorod one Ol lhe grealeol
upselS in Oly~ic hlste<y. and some have olSJod tnal Ns pertormance al Tokyo was 1/18 greatOSI achievement In modern times Due 10 his prolound ach1evemao1S, holds legendary s!Jltus among lllo Nawe Amorlcan Indian community In lhe Unnod S1a1o1. BUly Is alSo lhe aU1hor of "L • = • of a Lakota A Young Man's Journey 10 Happiness and SeH·Undera1andlng".
Running Bra e air on hannel 19 at 1 pm aturda , December 31, Saturday January 7 unda January 8 Platinum Sponsors Pioneer Title Co. • North Idaho Title Co. • Coeur d 'Alene Press • Marshall Mend Gold Sponsors Alliance Title Co. • Land America Lawyers Title Co. • Alliance Title Co. Silver Sponsors Coeur d'Alene Tribe • Stewart Title Co. • Kootenai County Title Co.
THE PRESS Friday, February 3, 2006 CS
Op/Ed
Lake City should be commended for GSA By Mary Lou Reed, Past President, Human Rights Education Institute
Lake City High School principal John Brumley and faculty advisers to the Gay Straight Alliance are to b commended for offering their support and protection to legally formed, non-disruptive clubs. Their high school is a stronger, safer place because of a sound policy upholding the right of students to organize interest groups, whether they want to speak Spanish together, or to play ball, or to play chess or to protect each other from harassment Our schools are the training grounds fo r democracy. School is where students learn and practice choosing, voting and, we
Guest Opinion hope, tolerance for other people's opinions. We hope they learn that it is okay to be different - okay to be an individual and an independent thinker. And we hope each student can find a niche where that student feels that he or she belongs as a valued member of the group. Just a couple of years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte became a raging cult figure around our vast, diverse country, perhaps even around the shrinking globe. In the film Napoleon Bonaparte proved that an awkward, nerdy teenage boy with a blonde afro could find happiness and popularity in a high school in a small Mormon town in deepest, most conservative
Idaho and could elect his friend Pedro to be student body president. Napoleon Bonaparte struck a chord with people of all ages who remembered their own agonies of teen years in high school - the cliques, the verbal cuts, the longing to be popular, the feelings of being left out and inadequate. The tragedy of Columbine showed that the cradle of democracy doesn't always rock for everyone. Unless a school can create an inclusive atmosphere with a place for the nerds like Napoleon Bonaparte or for the jocks, or for the disabled, or the black or the Mexican or any minority that is different, that school is not a safe place. By default, our schools are assigned to the role of the village that is raising our children. We expect our schools to
teach our children to read, starting in kindergarten, to express ideas in writing and to understand numbers and to prepare our children to compete in an increasingly complicated world. We expect our schools to teach core values and to build character. We also expect our schools to be safe places where learning can flourish. We are fortunate to have the caliber of leadership in our public schools that we have in North Idaho. They enforce their policies of protecting the safety and rights of all students with wisdom and thoughtful understanding. Principal John Brumley said '1 support tolerance, compassion, respect for basic human rights and life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for everybody." That's a statement to live by.
B WEDNESDAY MARCH 22. 2006 THE SPOKESMAN¡REVIEW
Businessman, principal honored for rights efforts A businessman and a school principal were honored this week for their commitment to human rights in North Idaho. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations presented its Civil Rights Award to Dennis Wheeler, chairman of the Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp., at its annual banquet Monday night. . ''He's an example of someone in the business community who really cares about human rights and civil rights," said Tony Stewart, a North Idaho College political science instructor and member of the task force. The award is presented to an individual who demonstrates a long record of supporting human rights, possesses the courage of his or her convictions, and stands up in the face of discrimination. Wheeler's support included help in housing the Human Rights Education Institute for three years. The institute is the educational arm of the task force. Pam Pratt, principal at Skyway Elementary School in Coeur d'Alene, was named the task force's Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer of the Year for her work coordinating an annual Martin Luther King Jr. program for fifth-grade students in 14 area schools. The award is named for the late Rev. Bill Wassmuth, a Catholic priest who founded the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, which later became the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, in 1986 after members of the Aryan Nations placed a bomb in his Coeur d'Alene home. - Scott Maben
Mississippi official to speak at banquet
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Attorney general helped get murd conviction for Ku Klux Klan member COEUR d' ALENE - Mi i ippi Attorn y Gen ral Jim Hood will be the keynote p aker at the ninth annual Human Rights Banquet Monday, March 20. He will b welcomed to Idaho and introduced at the banquet by Idaho Attorney G neral Lawrenc Wasden. Hood, along with N hoba County Pros culor Mark Dun an, h Ip d l ad a Philadelphia, Mi ., jur y to convict Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen in June 2005 for plotting the 1964 murder of ivil right worker Jame Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Mi bael hwern r. Hood earned a juri do torate from the Univer ity of Mi si ippi in 1988. He wa el ted di trict attorney for the third cir uit di trict court and rv d five year a the a i tant attorney gen ral of Mi i sippi befor being ele t d attorney general in 2003. During bis legal re r, Hood e tabli hed a r cord in upport of victim rights, earning bi ofiice the 2003 Ju tice A hievement Award from the Crime Victim Compensation Program. He ha produced crime prevention manual BANQUET continued on C6
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and videos for schools, treatment for drug offenders and a pretrial diversion program for young, first-time offenders. Highlights of the Human Rights Banquet will include recognition of Idaho and
Mississippi jury victories over hate crimes in Idaho in 2000 and Mississippi in 2005. In addition, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a 25-foot cake. Civil Right Awards will be presented as well as Human Rights Education Institute Diversity scholarships to North Idaho College students. Tickets to the Human Rights Banquet are $25 and are available by mailing a check to the Human Rights Education Institute at P.O. Box 2725, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816-2725 by Thursday, March 16. Information: 769-3325
Human Rights Banquet will feature noted prosecutor BY TARYN BRODWATER Staff writer
More than 40 years after three civil rights workers were killed, the tate of Mj sissippi last summer convicted Klansman Edgar Ray l{jtlen of planning the crimes. Tony Stewart watched closing arguments in the trial on TV and immediately drew parallels between that case and a 2000 civil uit in North Idaho against the Aryan Nations. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, the lead prosecutor in Killen's trial, reminded Stewart of Morris Dees - the civil rights lawyer who won a $6.3 civil judgment that bankrupted the Aryan Nations. Stewart was so impressed See BANQUET, A10
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Continued from A1 with Hood he booked him as the keynote speaker for the March 20 Human Rights Banquet in Coeur d'Alene. Hood's presentation will focus on the Mississippi case and the Kootenai County civil suit. "In both cases, the juries said no to hate and to crime," said Stewart, a North Idaho College political science instructor and member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. When Hood helped resurrect the case against Killen, which had ended 40 years earlier in a hung jury, he was subjected to a great deal of criticism. "There was a large group that felt like, 'You're going to dredge that back up and people will have a bad image of Mississippi again,' " Hood said. When Killen was convicted of manslaughter for the 1964 murders, Hood said, the sentiment changed. "After the trial, I realized the impact it really had on people," Hood said. "They have come to me and said, 'You just don't know how much that meant for our image in Mississippi.' It was a chapter that needed to be closed 'in Mississippi." Stewart said Idaho had similar image problems because of its association with the white supremacist Aryan Nations. The victories in both cases sent "a national message," Stewart said. The Human Rights Banquet will include a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human
If you go • What: Ninth Annual Human Rights Banquet
• When: March 20. Reception at 6 p.m., banquet at 7. • Where: The Coeur d'Alene Inn, 414 W . Appleway, Coeur d'Alene • Ticbts: $25, purchase in advance. Make checks payable to Human Rights Education Institute. Mail payment to HREI, P.O. Box 2725, Coeur d'Alene, ID
83816. • lnfotmatlon: Tony Stewart, (208) 769-3325
Relations - complete with a 25foot cake. The event is a fundraiser for the Human Rights Education Institute, the task force's educational arm. Two scholarships to North Idaho College are awarded at each year's banquet using proceeds from the event. Stewart said two civil rights awards will be handed out, as well. One, named in memory of civil rights activist Bill Wassmuth, will be awarded to the task force's volunteer of the year. This is the ninth year for the biµiquet. The event is held the same week as NIC's annual Popcorn Forum, a weeklong convocation series at the college.
Taryn Brodwater can be reached at (208) 765-7121 or by e-mail at tarynb@spokesman.com.
OPINION E IT
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Stacey Cowles Publisher Steven A. Smith Editor Doug Floyd Editorial Page Editor Gary Crooks Associate Editor Rebecca Nappi Associate Editor and columnist D.F. Oliveria Associate Editor and columnist
EDITORI \L
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he city of Coeur d'Alene can empathize with officials in Olympia who are trying to prevent neo-Nazis and counterdemonstrators from harming one another. For some reason, the Washington state capital has become the favodte protest ground for a remnant of white supremacists who are still trying to get a foothold in the Northwest despite the failure of the bankrupt Aryan Nations in Kootenai County. An organization calling itself the National Socialist Movement mustered 10 racists Sunday for a second rally in Olympia this year - and 10 to 15 times as many anti-racists, according to a news report in the Olympian. Washington tate troopers broke up the rally after escalating verbal confrontations between hotheads on both sides and e corted neo-Nazi leader Justin Boyer and his few ragtag followers away. Boyer complained that his free-speech rights were violated by the police action and promised to return J uly 3 with a bigger rally. Counterdemonstrators, meanwhile, were proud of themselves for shouting down the neo-Nazis. Veteran members of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations have seen this drama played out before at the gates of the old Aryan Nations compound on the rimrock above Hayden Lake on herman Avenue in downtown Coeur d'Alene, at Coeur d'Alene's City Park. For three decades, the local task force hadowed Richard Butler's organization, countering annual supremacist convention with human-rights celebrations, hijacking an Aryan Nations parade for a fundraising event and combating hate with peaceful activi m and anti-hate
laws. They ta k force never allowed the racists to dictate its agenda. The resisters to the Olympia hate rallies would do well to study the Kootenai County task force playbook. Rather than confront hater directly which would have provided recruitment fodder for them on tl1e evening news, the late Bill Wassmuth, Tony Stewart, Norm Gissel and others coun eled patience. One year, tl1ey encouraged Kootenai County re idents to show solidarity against the neo-Nazi creed by tying ribbons at their homes and busines es. Another year, tl1ey collected statements from cities, counties and states around the No1thwest in upport of human rights. In the process, they supported victims of hate crimes and promoted legislation behind the scenes that ultimately led to the downfall of tl1e Aryan ations compound. The tactics of the task force weren't always embraced by otl1er human-rights supporters. During one Aryan Nations World <;:ongre , maverick activists organized a march along U.S. Highway 95 in defiance of the task force's decision not to acknowledge the Aryan Nation event. Demon trators from around tl1e Northwest traveled to Coeur d'Alene to protest. They gave peeche after tl1e march. Then, they went home, without accomplishing much. The ta k force, meanwhile, continued plodding along like tl1e tortoi e that up et the rabbit in the fabled race for tl1e ages and eventually was involved in the legal showdown in which Butler lost bis compound. The only good thing that can be said about hothead d human-righ activi challenging hot-headed rad ts is that it's happening somewhere els .
RALLY
Capital braces for rally of Nazis Olympia taps into past Cd.A strategy BY RICHARD ROESLER Staff writer
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OLYMPIA - Even with one woman guarding the church doors and police promising regular patrols, people at the Unity in the Community meeting were nervous. "Hopefully," one man said, "this is the night that the Nazis are pressing their uniforms." Olympia, Washington's famously left-leaning capital, is about to become the backdrop for what organizers are billing as one of this year's largest neo-Nazj gatherings on the West Coast The National Socialist Movement Northwest applied in January to hold a 100-person, twohour rally on the steps of the state Capitol on July 3. The group plans to show up with its Nazi flags, armbands, brownshirt uniforms and speeches. "We are pro-Hitler!" the group says on its Web site, www.nukeisrael.com. Organizers say members are coming See RALLY, A9
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from as far away as California, Nevada and Montana. The state couldn't say "no" to the application. "Essentially, we say 'yes' to all of them," said Steve Valandra, spokesman for the state's General Administration Office. "It's just a matter of free speech." Now Olympia finds itself wrestling with a problem very familiar to places like Hayden Lake and Coeur d'Alene: how to publicly repudiate the racists' message without a confrontation that gives the Nazis the publicity they want. For weeks, the small Unity in the Community group has been meeting to organize a response. Twice so far, a few neo-Nazis have shown up at their meetings and been asked to leave. "We don't want to garner them any attention they don't deserve to get," said Marc Brenman, executive director of the state Human Rights Commission. "On the other hand, we don't have to stay silent, either."
"Hardest areas" Olympia - a gay- and lesbianfriendly college town with an organic farmer's market, art-house theater, galleries and a thriving music scene - seems an unlikely place for brownshirted neo-Nazis to come recruiting. This is the city, after all, that declared itself a "nuclear free zone" despite the fact that the ordinance is largely unenforceable. The city where one of the biggest civic events is the Earth Day-inspired puppet pageantry of a "Procession of the Species" parade. A city that's home to Evergreen State College and its motto "Omnia extares" - Latin for "Let it all hang out." But the city's quirky, diversityembracing nature is exactly why it's the perfect place for a rally, National Socialist Movement leaders said in interviews.
''It's the most diver e, liberal, basically confrontational place in Washington state. We pick targets in the hardest areas," aid J ustin Boyer, a neo-Nazi who filed the rally application. He said the group also plans rallies in Spokane and Seattle this summer. "We're establishing ourselves to have a strong presence in the Pacific Northwest," said a Snohomish County group member who identifieg himself as Jim Brandt, 42, a 'fo rmer resident of Spokane. "Olympia, especially with its trailitional base of tree-bugger types - not that there's anything wrong with environmentalists; we're very environmentally concious - seemed like a good place to put roots down," said Brandt.
"Awareness of race" The National Socialist Movement is trying to fill a leadership void left by the death of Richard Butler, tl1e fracturing of his Aryan Nations group, and last year's conviction in Chicago of a fellow neo-Nazi, World Church of the Creator leader Matt Hale. Hale is serving 40 years in prison for trying to arrange the killing of a federal judge. "Those groups, we felt, weren't going anywhere," Brandt said. The National Socialist Movement Northwest's Web site claims that it's growing rapidly, affiliating with existing skinhead
chapter in the region and last bat raci t violence. year forming a federal political Fourteen years later, the action committee: 88 PAC ("88" looming oeo-Nazi rally has reis a reference to the eighth letter energized the group. It is orgaof the alphabet - H - and neo- nizing a large diver ity celNazi shorthand for "Heil Hit- ebration on July 2 as a way to ler"). counter the racists' message. So far, the PAC has collected Borrowing a page from Coeur less than $400 in contributions, d Alene's playbook the group is according to Federal Elections running a "Lemons to LemonCommission reports. The group ade" fundraiser. For every hour claims 66 chapters nationwide, that the Nazis rally, local resiincluding an ''Idaho unit'' that dents have pledged money. The lists a post office box in Athol. donation are earmarked for a "We're not a violent group, local gay and lesbian youth contrary to what you may have group, the NAACP, a local synaheard about us," gogue's socialsaid Brandt "We justice Jund and try to do this "The option i t I t other very nonstrictly politiNazi cau es. cally and th m occup the floor "We wish the tluough street people really agitation, to unchalleng d or n t If good luck," said bring awareness Tony Stewart, a we ignore them, the North Idaho of race." Yet the College instrucgroup's own won t go awa . If we tor who helped a Web site, filled ignore th m they'll till organized similar pledge with racist and anti- emitic epi- get att ntion. drive for Butler's 1998 parade thets and caricatures, touts a Reiko Callner in Coeur d' Aneo-Nazi video Former Olympia City prosecutor lene. "The march game with a lasted 27 mingraphic showing a blood-spattered I raeli flag. utes and we raised $35,000," SteAnd until recently, the Web site wart said. The cash was handed included a Holocaust-denial sec- out for diversity teaching and other programs - and each time, tion titled "6 million more!" Brandt insists that such things local organizers held a press conare merely "provocative state- ference to publicly thank the ments designed to agitate lib- neo-Nazis for helping rai e moerals." Group members, he said, ney. "It was like, 'checkmate,' " "will not actually act on anything said Stewart. like that that they say.' Olympia is also looking to Billings, Moot., where in 1993 thouSeeking "checkmate" Many in Olympia don't believe sands of residents taped posters that They remember Bob Bu- of menorahs in their windows after omeone hurled a brick chanan Jr. In 1992, Buchanan, a 17-year- through a 6-year-old Jewish old Thai-American boy, was boy's Hannukah-decorated bedbludgeoned and stabbed to death room window. Unity in the Comby two neo-Nazis in a downtown munity is distributing iliver ity posters, as well as printing a coOlympia train tunnel. "The last time there was a py on newspaper page donated neo-Nazi presence here, there b the Olympian newspaper. Hundreds of students staged a was the murder of one of our children," said Reiko Calloer, diversity program in the city's who was Olympia's city pros- performing arts center two ecutor at the time. "There's no weeks ago. A local synagogue pretending that's not an atten- bought several copie of "Not in Our Town," a documentary tion-getter.'' The killing galvanized the about Billings' experience, and is community, which passed hate- airing and haring them. On July 2, people will gather crimes legislation and organized Unity in the Community to com- downtown for music, cultural booths with food, and other events focu ed on the community' iliversity. 'It's all about celebrating what we are, aid Marijke van Roojen, an organizer.
FILE The Spokesmanâ&#x20AC;˘Revtew
Matthew Ernest Ramsey, aka Jim Ramm, at the Aryan Nations parade in July 2004 in Coeur d'Alene.
"Not anywhere!" National SociaJjst Movement
makes no secret of its desire for a noisy confrontation and lots of news coverage. In a brief protest on the Capitol steps earlier this year, group organizer "Jim Ramm" - a former Eastern Washington University student and Butler supporter whose real name is Matthew Ernest Ramsey - groused about the sound quality of his protest recordings. The stone steps echoed too much, he said, as hls side chanted "Sieg heil" and opponents shouted back "Not in Olympia! Not anywhere!" "We can't get any good propaganda pif'ces off it," he can ~e heard complaining on an audio recording posted on the group's Web site. '
Still, virtually everyone preparing for the rally expects a large contingent of counterdemonstrators to face the neo-Nazis on July 3. A community Web site, olyblog.net, includes photos and information about Boyer and other neo-Nazis on Web sites. Others have been discussing tactics like mocking the Nazis by dressing in silly caricatures of their brownshirt uniforms and swastika armbands. For every "sieg heil" one Olympian suggested, people should chant back "So vile!" Unity in the Community is training "peacemakers" to prevent violence. And the State Patrol and Olympia police - no strangers to Capitol protests are planning to close streets and keep the two sides apart. "We have, unfortunately, tons of experience," s~d Olympia police spokesman ~1ck Machl~. Some in Olympia wonder tf the rally is merely a bluff. The National Socialist Movement last year announced a big rally in Seattle then never showed up. But sa{te and police officials say that continued contact from the group - and its own advertising on the Web site - suggests that the rally will happen. ,
Brandt said the group isn't likely to have a full 100 people there. At a rally in Olympia earlier this year, the group projected 50 demonstrators but brought just seven. The bigger concern, state patrol spokesman Jeff DeVere said, is the number of counterdemonstrators. The total of both sides "could be anywhere between 50 and 2 000 " Devere said. ''You plan f~r th~ high number and hope for a lower number." Richard Roesler can be reached at (360) 664-2598 or by e-mail at richr@spokanenews.net.
immediately got involved in Kootenai Many consjder her the County politics. matriarch of the Kootenai "I was a County Democratic Party. Democrat Others know her as a from the kindhearted friend who i ve.r y 11,.!ways looking out for the welfare of al} peoples. Still beginning. My first vote others know her to be a steward was for of the environment and tireless Mary Lou Reed campaign worker. Adlai Mary Lou Reed's Stevenson - the Democratic contributions were recently candidate for President in 1952. I celebrated when the Kootenai was in love with him,' Reed said County Democrats awarded her with a grin. Reed briefly lived next door to the Art Manley Lifetime Achievement Award during the other presidential candidate - Dwight Eisenhower, who was the.ir annual North Idaho president of Columbia Democracy Dinner. "Art Manley was Mary Lou's University at the time - but she mentor," said Shirley Kenck, rooted for Stevenson. The Reeds met Art Man1ey co-chairwoman of the Democratic Women's Caucus. shortly after they arrived in "She was so honored to receive Coeur d'Alene, and Man1ey promptly gathered them into the the award named after him." Each year Kootenai County Wildlife Federation. Democrats nominate member "We were fortunate enough to of the community for thi be found by Art and to fall in line prestigious award. The award is with his passion for protecting named for Man}ey, a former land for the public to use," said tate senator and avid Reed. "He was our mentor and environmentalist who sponsored gujde into civil affairs. the bill that created the State "Art was alway there Park Department and spent his suggesting and discussing what life establishing parks and we should be supporting,'' Reed protecting wild areas. said. "Art was a firm leader, Past recipients of the award modest but with tough are Manley himseJf, Buell and expectations." Donna Hollister, and Bliss Man1ey erved two years in Bignall. the House and 12 years in the "These nominees may not Senate, and Reed worked on nece sarily live lives that have each of his campaigns. achieved Art Manley's exact ln 1982 Man1ey, Reed and accomplishmen , but have lived Jeannie Givens, all Democrats their live erving their ran for office and were defeated. community and the Democratic "We had a great time even Party with the spirit, though we all three lo t,'' Reed determination and personal aid, smiling. ethics that work in concert with In 1984, Reed was talked into he principle of democracy ' running again by Man1ey and aid Bill Kersting, outgoing Tony Stewart. Reed won the chairman of the Kootenai election against Dennis Carlson , County Democratic Central in 1985. "It was a tough Committee. countywide race in a landslide "The nominee are people Ronald Reagan election year," who embrace the belief that the aid Reed. Democratic Party and its In 1992, redistricting took member can make the Reed to hoshone County, and difference in the life of one child, she fought a difficult primary one family, one tate and one race against Marty Calabretta nation, ' be aid. and won. Reed and her husband, cott, From 1992 to 1994 Reed mo ed to North Idaho in 1955 to erved as minority leader in the enjoy its beauty and recreational enate and in 1994, became opporturuties and to rai e a enate assistant minority leader. family. Reed went on to serve a total of Reed had worked on 12 years until her defeat by Jack Democratic campaigns in Riggs in 1996. California and upon arrival ''My first and lasting niche at BY LAURA UMTHUN Correspondent
the Legi Jature was the area of public education. Every one is created equal, but the starts children have are so unequal,' Reeds said. "That's why we worked so hard for smaller classrooms for small people. Education is the tried and true ladder out of poverty and dissatisfaction. We need to help students place rungs on their ladders. I be}ong to the camp that believes education is the most important factor in a healthy economy - good jobs produce good customers." A fond memory for Reed was her involvement in all of Frank Church's campaigns. Reed was the Kootenai County coordinator for the Church presidential campaign in 1976, and the campaign slogan was "It's Idaho's Turn." "Fifty years ago, in 1956, I
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stuffed envelope for Frank Church - the father of the Wildeme Act - and had the opportunity to work on every one of his senatorial campaigns," Reed said. Reed was drawn into working on human rights by Tony Stewart, Bill Wassmuth and the reality of the Aryan Nations. ''When Bill Wassmuth's home was bombed, we needed to pass legislation that add.re sed human
rights " Reed said. "The earch for faimes and equality fuels the effort. It would be a great and peaceful world if everyone treated each other with dignity and respect.' Reed served on the Idaho Humanitie Council; i a former pre ident and current board member of Friends of Head Start; foundjng member of the See REED, 5
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REED
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Continued from 2 Harding Play Space As oci.ation; board member of Foundation Northwest, a community foundation that this year . . distributed more than $3 million to Spokane and Idaho communities; former board member of Coeur d'Alene summer Theater; co-founder of Kootenai Environmental Alliance; board member of Planned Parenthood; mem~er of the Board of the Human Rights Education Institute; and member of Kootenai Task Force on Human Relations. . "I have a profound trust m the value of the ballot box. I adhere to the Jeffersoruan belief that human beings are for the m_ost part inherently goo_d an? will make the right choices if they are given all the facts," said.Reed. Reed shares her passion for life with her husband, a successful Coeur d'Alene . attorney. "We are supportive of each other and agr~e on ab~os; every position. He is the sarnt She has two grown children and one grandchild. The Reeds' dedication to environmental activism was acknowledged when ~ey were named Environmentalists of the Year in the late '70's. Ree? helped start the Kootenai Environment Alliance and _was also instrumental in founding the Idaho Conservation League.
OPINION EDITORIAL
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COMMENTARY
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ANALYSIS
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DEBATE
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the editorial board help to determine The Spokesman-Review's position on issues of interest to the Inland Northwest
Stacey Cowles Publisher Steven A. Smith Editor Doug Floyd Editorial Page Editor Gary Crooks Associate Editor
Rebecca Nappi Associate Editor and columnist D.F. Oliveria Associate Editor and columnist
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Freedom's price Our View: Hate groups, though deplorable, have rights too
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nland Northwestemers know something about hate groups. For a quarter of a century, the region was home to the Aryan Nations, a vile group that celebrated mass murderer Adolf Hitler's life. At every tum, racist Richard Butler was met by peaceful resistance from a local grass-roots movement that protected minority members and countered Butler's words of hate with peace and tolerance. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations followed the civil libertarian practice of countering bad speech with more and better speech. Commendably, the task force recognized the Aryans' right to assemble, parade and speak as it marginalized and helped vanquish the haters. Lawmakers, both federal and state, should take µie same approach to another deplorable hate group: the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan. The Rev. Fred Phelps and his church followers specialize in hating gays. They burst on the scene several years ago by staging "God Hates Fags" protests at the funerals of AIDS victims and received national attention by picketing the 1998 funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student who was beaten by two men and left to die on a fence near Laramie. Now Phelps' followers are making headlines by protesting at military funerals of slain U.S. fighters, including the one for Marine Cpl. Phillip Baucus, nephew of U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., on the family ranch near Helena on Sunday. In Phelps' convoluted way of thinking, the deaths of our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan are proof that God is punishing this nation for tolerating gay men and lesbians. The church's vile Web site
celebrates those deaths. The protesters' picket signs read, among other things: "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs (lll1provised explosive devices)." Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church should embarrass American Christians. Only the lowest of the low would add to the anguish of grieving family members and relatives of fallen warriors by pushing a political or religious agenda at a funeral. However, Phelps has the right to do so. Congress and 25 states were generally wrong in passing laws to prevent groups from picketing funerals. lo trying to maintain decorum and respect the dead, lawmakers have crossed a line and attacked the First Amendment. Everyone's rights are affected when we begin taking away the basic speech and religious rights of repugnant individuals such as Phelps. Correctly, the American Civil Liberties Union, with nose tightly pinched, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Westboro Church against a Missouri law that restricts funeral picketing. The Rev. Vernon Wright and the Plymouth Congregational Church provided a better way to muzzle Phelps and his disciples by confronting them at a freeway interchange along the route to the memorial service for young Baucus. Rather than respond to four of Phelps' backers with their hate, the Helena Christians repeated the statement: "God loves you," according to the Billings Gazette. At other protests, patriotic bikers and sympathetic individuals have shielded mourners from Westboro Baptist placards and taunts. Society must protect its rights as well as those who mourn until Phelps' 15 minutes of fame are over.
Town hall meeting turns bitter Immigration a hot topic during Sen. Craig's visit to Coeur d'Alene By MARC STEWART Staff writer
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COEUR d'ALENE -This may be the last town hall meeting en. Larry raig holds here. Th Republican faced a barrage of pointed question about the U.S. immigration policie and thee timated 10 million illegal alien in thi country Tuesday night during a raucou debate that threatened to turn ugly. Craig "The reality is that there are 2.5 million jobs here that American won't do," Craig said. "You can't go door to door and force between 8 million and 10 million people to leave at gunpoint For 20 years, immigration laws have failed. We know there' a problem and we're working on it. The first step is ecuring the border and we're doing that" The Human Rights Education institute became an ironic backdrop to a contentious discussion about illegal immigration as Craig struggled to maintain decorum and pleaded with people to listen to his an wer . One woman interrupted Craig and aid, "I am sick of listening to these lies," before walking out. A young man got up and left while yelling, "fear is a tool of control." Of nearly 60 people in attendance many wanted action, including immediate deportation. They said it was a cri i that wa going to bankrupt the country and ited numerou example of problems in outh rn California in luding drug , rape and gang . Some went o far a to ay he wa n't doing hi job to uphold and
North Idaho
MEmNG from A1
THE PRESS Wednesday, August 23, 2006 A9
"I am not giving the president carte blanche. But ifs a long-term struggle. The leader of Iraq recenUy came to a joint session of Congress and asked us to stay."
protect the Constitution and has failed the citizens of Idaho. Craig also held town hall meetings in Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint on Tuesday, however, his staff said those meetings were calm and SEN. LARRY CRAIG respectful - nothing like R~daho the scene in Coeur d'Alene. Stan Hess, who is running I country. struggle. The leader of Iraq : against Denny Hague for a "I am not giving the presirecently came to a joint sesNorth Idaho College Board dent carte blanche," Craig sion of Congress and asked u~ of Trustees seat, was at the said. "But it's a long-term to stay." epicenter of the hostility. / He erupted with anger over the immigration issue. He screamed at Craig and the citizens, who tried to boo him down. Then Hess confronted a woman and yelled at her only a few inches away from her face. Several people stood up to diffuse the confrontation. Craig's handlers said they were moments away from calling the police. Hess, who also blasted NIC professor and longtime Human Rights advocate Tony Stewart, stormed out of the meeting. Other topics of discussion included veteran benefits, same-sex marriage, America's dependency on oil and alternative energy options. Craig's opening remarks referenced the War on Terror, but only one person brought up Iraq and it was the final question of the meeting. Craig said he supported President Bush's efforts to bring democracy to the
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Hess wants more European studies BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF Staff writer
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A man who hopes to fight what he said is a pattern in the U.S of discrimination against people of European descent will challenge the current North Idaho College Board of Trustees vice chairman for a seat on the board in November. Stan Hess, 61, filed his declaration of candidacy Wedn~sday morn(ng, making h1mself and vice chairman Denny Hague the only candidates who have filed for the seat thus far. The filing deadline is Aug. 31. "It's all about the European American human rights movement," Hess said in an interview at his home in H ayden. If elected to the board, he plans to push for the implementations of a European American studies program at the college and for the declaration of the month of October as "European American Heritage Month," he said. He'd also like to get rid of the intercollegiate athletics program and replace it with an intramural one to save money, and to change policies so that the college president is elected by the people rather than appointed by the board and have trustees serve just two-year terms instead of the current six-year terms.
On the Web site of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization - widely regarded by civil rights groups as a white supremacist association - Hess is listed as the Idaho contact, but he said be severed ties with the group about a year ago. Started by Ku Klux Klansman David Duke, Hess said the group's ties to the KKK concerned him and that he found it difficult to work within a large organization. He served as president of the organization's California chapter prior to moving to North Idaho in 2003. He said he has started his own group here - the European-American Human Rights Task Force. Still in its organizational stage, Hess said the group bas members, but they want to keep their membership secret because they still work in the community. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights group that tracks white supremacist organizations and their members, considers Hess to be one of the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the country. "He's a big man in hate; there's no question," said Heidi Beirich, the center's spokeswoman. "People should know that." Hess said he doesn't conSee STAN HESS, 82
Thursday August 24, 2006
Behavior at meeting stuns community leaders By MARC STEWART Staff writer
Craig
COEUR d' ALENE - Some of North Idaho's community leaders were more upset about a nasty town hall meeting than U.S. Sen. Larry Craig. North Idaho College President Michael Burke and Kootenai County Commissioner Rick Currie were among several people who were offended by the tone and the lack of civility during Tuesday's immigration discussion at the Human Rights Education Institute. Burke and Currie got up and left before the meeting ended.
'1 thought the lack of decorum and th lack of respect for a U.S. Senator was inexcusable," Burke said Wednesday. ''11lis was a first for me." But not for Craig. who been subjected to protesters in the past 'I really enjoy forums because it's part of the democratic process," said Craig, RIdaho. "I've done hundreds of them and the behavior varies. Some people want to express themselves, or ask a question. Others want to make a scene." And what a scene it was.
NIC board candidate has white supremacist ties, civil rights group says By MARC STEWART Staff writer
COEUR d' ALENE - The local candidate who disrupted U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's town hall meet~ - - ~ ing Tuesday said he was just trying to get people's attention to the plight of European Americans. It worked. An AJabama civil rights group says Stan Hess of Hayden is a hardcore racist and is anti-Semitic. Hess , ., ........ , is running for a North Idaho College Hess Board of Trustees seat. He'll be on the Nov. 7 ballot, challenging incumbent Denny Hague, a decorated war veteran. see HESS, A12
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sider himself racist and said he has broken friendships with people who use racial slurs. He believes all people are equal but thinks European Americans have been getting the short shrift. "If American Indians have sovereignty and reservations, we Europeans should have tribal status, too," he said. Hess described himself as an "old anti-war activist" who opposes all military interventions by the United States and thinks the Sept. 11 attacks were orchestrated by a rogue faction of the federal government. He said it's long past time for "people that don't have power, like European Americans," to
Filing for candidacy Anyone interested in running for a spot on the North Idaho College Board of Trustees - NIC's governing board - has through Aug. 31 to file candidacy. Candidates must be at least 18 years old and reside in Kootenai County. Those interested can fill out a declaration of candidacy at the county election office or with election clerk Rolly Jurgens, NIC's vice president for administrative services.
"go to the campus and demand Hess is no stranger to NIC, that our heritage be taught." having attended a board meetHague said he welcomes the ing in June touting a video that challenge of a contested race. be claimed proves that Euro"I guess it's always good to peans inhabited America long have an opponent," he said. before Indians and expressing "It's up to the citizens of the concern that NIC was becomcommunity. They should have ing an "American Indian-cena choice of who they would like tric" college. to have, have the responsHe also interrupted a speech ibility." NIC President Michael Burke
gave at a Gonzaga University human rights event in 2003, objecting to Burke's use of the phrase "people of color." "I was ethnically cleansed from California," Hess said at the time. "Whites today face the most extensive and intensive racial discrimination in American history." Hess said he hopes the "European American platform" he's basing his campaign on will inspire others with similar ideologies to rull for office. He plans to run for Congress someday. The Board of Trustees election is Nov. 7.
Reporter Meghann M. Cuniff can be reached at (208) 765-7129 or by e- mail at meghannc@spokesman.com.
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!!Mr. Hess has an incredibly long history of participation in whlte supremacist organizations," said Heidi Beirich, a spokeswoman for the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization committed to tracking hate groups. "Someone like him should never be on a government entity. I don't think even he should be serving on a mosquito board. You're drinking in hate." Hess denies being a racist and antiSemitic. "I am the white Jesse Jackson," Hess said. 'Tm a European activist I've also been married to a Jewish woman." Understanding Hess' obsession with racial issues appears to have roots to an incident over 30 years ago in Oakland. The 61-year-old said he was shot in the face while he was working as a cab driver in 1975 and refused to give an African American a ride. "I am a hate crime survivor," Hess â&#x20AC;˘ said. "I was shot in the face by an African American. I have bridge work and lost two teeth. I was called a 'white boy.' I started re-evaluating my politics. I was still in favor of civil rights for everybody, but I wanted to support a program for civil rights for European American people." Hess said ms search led him to David , Duke's European-American Rights Organization. Hess was a top leader in â&#x20AC;˘ California, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan and former Louisiana state representative, is considered to be a whlte supremacist by many civil rights groups. "A year ago I left the organization
"I really believe the southwestern United States will be de facto Mexico and I don't want to see that here. I moved from California and I don't want to have to move again. I moved because I wanted to be around European American people. We're not going to be an ethnic minority here." STAN HESS, retired bus driver because I have a different focus than David does," Hess said. 'The key for me was when I was shot in the face in 1975, I was looking for somebody who would speak to the interests of European American people and David was talking about European American victims of crime, and nobody else was talking about it I joined an organization interested in protecting the safety of European Americans." Hess, who worked as a bus driver for 26 years and is retired, said he's running for the trustee seat because the college needs to deal with a lot of issues, inducting promoting European American heritage and cracking down on illegal immigrants. '1t's a sham we've allowed people to come into our country and receive benefits," Hess said. Hess said he could work with blacks or a person of Jewish descent. However, he said he doesn't want to live in the same neighborhood with minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. He says it's normal for ethnic groups to want to live together. "I really believe the southwestern United States will be de facto Mexico and I don't want to see that here," said Hess, who moved to North Idaho in 2001. "I moved from California and I don't want
to have to move again. I moved because I wanted to be around European American people. We're not going to be an ethnic minority here." The self-described longtime political . activist erupted in anger at the Human Rights Education Institute on Tuesday nlght, causing a disturbance that prompted Craig's staff to consider calling the police. Hess confronted Craig, R-Idaho, and other people in the crowd, including a woman. He yelled at her only a few inches away from her face. Several people stood up to diffuse the confrontation . '1f I had sat and listened to the homespun tales of Larry Craig and made a small comment, nothing would have happened," Hess said. "I am a labor activist and anti-war protester. If you tried and change the policy of thls government during the Vietnam War by going to meetings and talking to politicians, nothing would have happened. It's social activism and sometimes you have to raise ' your voices." Hess even insulted NIC professor and longtime human rights advocate Tony Stewart by calling him a "Bolshevik." "It's totally untrue," Stewart said. "He's another example of an individual who has attacked our work and what we've tried to accomplish."
THE PRESS Thursday, August 24, 2006 A11
to bankrupt the country and cited examples of problems in Southern California, including drugs, rape and gangs. The meeting featured shout"All kinds of emotions are ing, boos, broken chairs, and tied to this issue," Craig said. a near physical confrontation "I knew the meeting was going between a man and woman. to be dominated by this. 'The bottom line is that "But in Southern Idaho, you bad a lot of people asking where they have most of the the questions and they didn't migrant workers, people there care what the answers were," wanted to talk about energy Currie said. "1t's sad because issues." more and more national repCraig said there are no easy resentatives are doing less of solutions, but promises the these things just because of government is going to fix the this type of situation." problem. NIC professor Tony Stewart The senator chuckled that during the meeting several said it was one of the worst displays of bad behavior he's longtime Democrats defended seen in 25 years. him and asked people to be Emotions are running high civil. overirrunigrationissues,Craig '1 saw that happening," he said. "Politics make strange said. His office has received bedfellows." 14,000 calls about illegal alien Despite the outbursts, Craig topics over the last two years. promised to return to Coeur That figure represents about d'Alene for more meetings. one-tenth of the total volume "One shouter won't keep of calls. me out of Coeur d'Alene," he During the meeting, many wanted action, including imme- said. "In the end the crowd shouted him down and he diate deportation. They said didn't gain any points." it was a crisis that was going
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the editorial board help to determine The Spokesman-Review's position on issues of interest to the Inland Northwest
Stacey Cowles Publisher Steven A. Smith Editor Doug Floyd Editorial Page Editor Gary Crooks Associate Editor Rebecca Nappi Associate Editor and columnist D.F. Oliveria Associate Editor and columnist
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Snub the messenger Our View: Race-baiting NIC candidate will not succeed
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oeur d'Alene residents should be alarmed by the unruliness of the crowd at U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's town hall meeting this week. The seemingly organized attempt by political newcomer Stan Hess of Hayden to whip up anti-immigration sentiment could be a sign of nasty things to come this fall. Hess, who served as president of the California chapter of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's EURO organization, is running against incumbent Denny Hague for a North Idaho College trustee seat. Apparently, Hess plans to u e his campaign as a soapbox to push his pro-white agenda. Hess and others who hooted in support when Hes houted down Craig don't realize that Kootenai County has a long, distinguished history of defending itself against uncivil ideologues and racists. The Kootenai County Task Force On Human Relations has written the manual on how to deal with race agitators. He s will be hard-pressed to re-ignite the £James of intolerance that were effectively extinguished when Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler lo this compound and most of his organization after he was sued into bankruptcy. There are several practical ways to handle race baiters: Challenge their message, comfort their victims, monitor their activities and vote against them when they seek political office. North Idahoans have accomplished all four of the e objectives, with the task force leading the way. They have learned that intolerance grows in a vacuum. That aters don t go away if you ignore them. That "saying-yes to human
rights is the best way to say no to prejudice." Hess denies that he's a racist, insisting rather that he's simply crusading for European-American recognition in this country to counterbalance the attention paid to minority groups. However, the esteemed Southern Poverty Law Center ranks him among the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the country. A spokeswoman for the center told The Spokesman-Review: "He's a big man in hate; there's no question." Hess' inflammatory actions Tuesday indicate there's more there than he's willing to admit Before stomping out of the meeting, he called human-rights leader Tony Stewart a name from another era: "Bolshevik." Those who criticize immigrants and minorities have a right to voice their opinions. But they don't have a right to disrupt meetings or to expect others to embrace their message. Hess' actions at ·t he public meeting, which was ironically held in the new Human Rights Education Institute, indicate he wants to be heard but not to listen. In the past, North Idaho showed its contempt for political candidates with similar approaches and messages by overwhelmingly rejecting the mayoral candidacies of supremacists Vincent Bertollini, in Sandpoint, and Butler, in Hayden. Hess' dark-horse candidacy should be snubbed, too. Unquestionably, the issue of immigration is ripe for debate. This country has failed to seal it porous borders and to reform immigration laws. But the debate should take place in a civil manner. Hess' brand of activi m won't find fertile ground in North Idaho.
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This is no way to reach a goal People should be able to speak out passionately on subjects like illegal immigration without being branded as raci ts, bigots uncouth louts or fools. But the manner in which that expression i made will have everything to do with how their mes age i received and, ultimately acted upon. Th rude behavior exhibited earlier this week at a town hall m eting in Coeur d'Alene ould hardly have had a le contructive impact on U.S. en. Larry Craig. Idahos senior ongres ional statesman was able to laugh about it the next day, bu on Tue day night some in the crowd feared violence was an in tant away from eruption. While one in tigator clearly set the tone for chaotic, confrontational behavior, he was not alone in losing his cool - and hi manner . The re ult was at best ironic. Craig noted later that a imilar town hall meeting in southern Idaho, an agricultural area with significantly more undocumented workers than we have up here, centered on constructive di cu sion about energy issues. Here, an unsanctioned World Wre tling Federation bout nearly broke out, and almost every prospective combatant was a spud-white Idahoan of middle age or more. One could be left with the impression that there wa a greater threat to the American way of life in that room than there is collectively wherever minorities congregate in North Idaho. We know the humiliation suffered Tuesday night i not an accurate reflection of the good people of thi region. That wa immediately borne out when the key trouble maker wa shoutd down and everal p pie, including om Democrat tood in Craig's defen e and urged civility. Our hope is that thi behavior is widely regarded a unacceptable, and that Tue day' meltdown does not dissuade elected official from going out to the p ople in the time-honored tradition of town halls where diver e idea and entiments can be expre ed op nly and respe tfully. For tho e who demand stronger action on illegal immigration or other i ue the be t way to wr ck your ag nda i to discr dit your elf.
IDAHO DITION
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THE SPOKESMAN·REVIEW
t in cross
burning for "burning the grass" in front of the apartment and to a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the Robinson who urged the prospeace. ecutor's office to reach a plea "That was what Mr. Robinson deal with the men, originally thought was appropriate,'' Stecharged with a felony hate crime. rett said. "I'm kind of in awe of "Apology accepted," Robinthe position he took." son, who is black, told 18-yearSterett also consulted Tony old Nicholas J. Schmitt and 21Through the plea deal, Stewart, secretary of the board of year-old Michael R Simmons af- Schmitt and Simmons pleaded the Kootenai County Task Force ter each apologized in court. "Af- guilty to a misdemeanor charge on Human Relations. Stewart of malicious injury to property told him that this case could be ter today, this is in the past."
Black victim accepts their apologies BY TARYN BRODWATER Staff writer
Seann Robinson forgave the men who burned a cross outside his Spirit Lake apartment July 15 as they pleaded guilty Friday to reduced charges. Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor Reese Sterett said it was
an opportunity to tum the men "into proponents for human rights." Stewart talked with Robinson and has offered to help the defendants with their court-ordered "sensitivity training," Stewart said Friday. First District Magistrate Benjamin Simpson sentenced both men to 60 days in jail, with credit for the time they've already spent behind bars. Both were ordered
See CROSS, 84
to complete diversity training. Simpson tacked on 30 days of community service to each man's sentence to "send a message to the community that these types of acts won't be tolerated." "Tqis brings back some really ugly periods of times in our history," Simpson said. "It brings back some ugly times in our community, our area."
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Continued from 81 Attorneys for both men asked Simpson to grant withheld judgments, meaning if they didn't violate terms of their probation, the convictions wouldn't show on their record. The judge denied the requests. Chief Deputy Public Defender Lynn Nelson, representing Simmons, said the first thing Simmons told him when they met at the jail was, "I did something incredibly stupid." "I think this has been a real
education to him,'' Nelson said. "He feels incredibly lucky. If it weren't for Mr. Robinson and his recommendations, he would have a felony on his record." Simmons said the incident was "a lack of judgment." "I'm truly sorry for the pain I caused you," be told Robinson, who was seated in court. "I embarrassed myself, I embarrassed my fami ly and I embarrassed a lot of friends when I did that" Schmitt apologized to the community, the court and Robinson. His attorney, Doug Phelps,
said the crime was an isolated incident - a poor decision made after a night of drinking. Phelps said the incident forced Schmitt to do a lot of soul searching. "He had these concerns - 'Am I a racist in some fashion that I allowed this to happen?' " Phelps said. "He had to look within himself to determine if be might be a racist." Reach reporter Taryn Brodwater at (208) 765-7121 or by e-mail at tarynb@spokesman.com.
THE SPOKESMAN SATURD A Y, OCTOBER 21 , 2006
IDAHO EDITION
~REVIEW Post Falls man advertises his bias Thousands see sign grouping pedophiles, gays BY TARYN BRODWATE.R Staff writer
JESSE TINSLEY The Spokesman-Review
Jim Valentine stands near a sign he put up In Post Falls. Automotive
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Jim Valentine lumps gay people and pedophiles together. And he doesn't want any of them living in Idaho. The 55-year-old Post Falls business owner posted a message in bold letters on his reader board Friday morning: ''Peds queers fags your in
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Idaho now ..." That's what northbound drivers on Pleasantview Road see when they drive past the sign for his landscape supply and horse-boarding business, Dixie Services. 'Don't fruit with Idaho kill yo-yo boy'' is the message greeting southbound drivers. According to Valentine, "yo-yo boy'' is his nickname for convicted
the Web: Sound off @ atOnHuckleberries online:
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killer and child molester Joseph Duncan, who killed three members of a Coeur d'Alene family and allegedly abducted two children from the SeeSIGN,AB
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SPEAK OUT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS! NIC has a longstanding tradition of supporting human rights and diversity. We the undersigned/ strongly uphold the core values of the college that embrace and celebrate individual differences. We join together to voice our concern for the views and statements by trustee candidate Stan Hess who: • Stated that he "doesn't want to live in the same neighborhood with minorities such as African Ameri cans and Hispani cs.' The Coeur d'A lene Press, Aug. 24, 2006 • Has criticized NIC's ties to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe ca lling the college "an American Indian-centric college. " n1e Spokesman-Review, August. 24, 2006 • Has been listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the United States. • Has had a long affi li ation with former KKK leader David Duke.
2 .......... NICKEL'S WORTH W eek of October 20, 2006
• Has been described by the Stormfront white nationalist racist group "as a true patriot and activist." Carl Curtis Phillipe Valle Richard Henry Randall Audry Bourne Kathy Hostetter Jeffrey Stotik Victor Duarte Bob Bennett Dan Erlacher lldiko Roth Cameron Dwyer Philip Carlis Linda Lemkau Tammy Payton Michele Jerde Judy Adams Cynthia Sielaff Karen Ruppel Ryan N. Hayes Scott Paxton Angela Earnhart Lon Jacobson Krista Brown Liisa Dilley Curtiss Otten Andrew H ignel I
Jen Yaingwirth Dale Coontz Ryan M cRoberts Harvey Brothers Annette Daniels Mike Sifforel Tim Pullman Michelle Powell Patrick Barnes Ashley Cemers Tim Garb Josh Gunter Marji Leeffler Brandon Darnall Daniel Johnson Nick Frazey Alyssa Thelen Gabe lacoboni Alanna M cQuigg Cody Jewell Jarryd Pretorius Matthew Wituksi Jordan Anderson Alee Weyman Michelle Blustern
Drew Sanders Michael Thomas Bettie Fo lnagy Annbra Soh nveide Jordan Nelson William Cleavringer Anthony Vela Allison Miller Couyn Paris Aaron Smith August Tower Jordan Daugherty Brian J. Hill J.D. Kells Adriel Kelsick Daniel James Helland Fran Bahr rystal Stockdale Brian Williams Attila Folnagy Mac Cooper Austin Folnagy Jaclyn Fraser Tyler Carrico Vicki Cu lverson
Paid forb
Brenda Marsan Stephanie McNelis Alan Lamb Amanda Kwiecien Michelle Suple lenifer Hopperstad Tom Flint Tony Stewart Denise Clark Margaret Fedje Gina Prindle Caro l Lindsay Jo Ann Nelson Marian Ackerman Ann Johnston Sharla Chitti ck Virginia Hickman Virginia Johnson Sarah Johnson Ca thy Matresse Rhena Cooper Laurie Olson-Horswell Joyce Lider Laureen Belmont Jean Arbogast
Karen Chamberla in Barbara Davis Maximiano Mendez James DeMoss Kimberlie A. Johnson Mandy Wood Kala Hungerford Zachary Kohl Jeremy Balbin Steve Bryan Bryan Settle Genevieve Werick Ni cole Cleveland Jory Buehner Hannah Edwards Whittriey D. Hawk Carl Townsend Anakin Kelsick Luthien Kels1ck Joseph Mark lacoby Kateri Ray Tiffany Renner Lori Ann Wallin Jeanne Emerson Milt Jacob"
James M. Cu ltra Don Schoesler Kathleen Miller Green Allie Vogt Janet D Gossett Laura Godfrey William Goodwin Safira Ali Robert Siperly Andrew W. Finney Mary Jane Kuck Debra Vigil Pamela Marshall Jeffrey 0. Crowe Kyle Cossairt Pat DeSmet Donna I. Patterson Dinah Gaddie Patricia H. Torok-Pierce Stacey Curry Albert Wilkerson Amy C. Wilkerson Jacqualyn Wilson David El mes Sharee Ca nll)bell Erna Rhineh,ut
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ople," Stewart said "It's stereotyping an entire population. It's so unfortunate when that happens." Stewart said the crimes Duncan committed have affected the entire community. 'We all condemn completely the atrocious crimes of Duncan " Stewart said. ''We wanted swift justice and harsh punishment" "One can't use a certain crime to preach hatred against a whole community of people," Stewart said. About 3,500 cars pass Valentine's property on'Pleasantview Road each day, according to the city of Post Falls. Post Falls police and the Kootenai County Sheriffs Department had not received any complaints about the signs as of Friday afternoon. Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said there's no statute under which Valentine could be prosecuted for displaying the messages. "That type of distasteful speech is not covered by the malicious harassment law unless it's accompanied by some threat of imminent injury," Douglas said.
family home so he could molest them. Valentine said be came up with "yo-yo" becau e he played with Duncan-brand yo-yos, when be was a kid. ''People are kind of numb. I think they need to wake up a little bit," said Valentine, who drives classic cars emblazoned with the Confederate flag. One has a born that plays "Dixie." The father of eight said be was inspired by the "Kill Duncan" bumper stickers he has seen around town. Va,l.entine said he believes he's speaking on behalf of others in the community who are "afraid" to speak up. Valentine said drivers who saw the signs have been honking their horns in support of hfa mes age. Another sign advertising his business has a picture of the Confederate flag and reads "Welcome to Idaho." For those who have worked diligently to promote human rights in North Idaho, Valentine's message is shocking and sad, said Tony Stewart, board member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. Reach Taryn Brodwater at "It sends a message of hate di- (208) 765-7121 or by e-mail at rected at an entire group of pe- tarynb@spokesman.com.
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the editorial board help to determ ine The Spokesman- Review's position on issues of interest to the Inland Northwest
Stacey Cowles Publisher Steven A. Smith Editor Doug Floyd Editorial Page Ed itor Gary Crooks Associate Ed itor Re becca Nappi Associate Editor and columnist D.F. Oliveria Associate Editor and columnist
E ITO IALS
Just say 'no' Our View: Here's three candidates voters should avoid
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or months, this newspaper's editorial board has endorsed dozens of candidates after weighing their qualifications for offices in Washington and Idaho. Today, we urge you not to vote for three men Tuesday. They are: ultraconservative Bud Mueller, a former Bonner County commissioner who is trying to reclaim that office; J.D. "Andy" Anderson, a constitutionalist and former Stevens County commissioner who is running for heriff there; and Stan Hess, who is an erstwhile associate of former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke and running for the North Idaho College Board of Trustees. Mueller's siren ong of smaller government and less regulation appeals to many in Bonner County. But he showed during his previous stint as a commissioner in the late 1990s that his version of smaller government is an extreme one. He and fellow commissioner Larry Allen dismantled the county building department and fired the county's road superintendent and solid waste supervisor. Mueller's scorched-earth approach to county government prompted lawsuits and payouts. Allen, who has since died, prevented Mueller from wreaking further havoc by coming to his senses and breaking publicly with his political mentor. Now, Mueller's up to his old tricks. If elected, particularly in tandem with fellow Republican Lewi Rich, he plans to ax the county's emergency medical system and, perhaps, the planning and zoning department. He's advocating this craziness at a time when Bonner County is growing rapidly and in desperate need of visionary planning. Mueller's antics during his previous term, from 1998 to 2001, helped
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gain the county a reputation from the Southern Poverty Law Center as a haven for extremists. Bonner County voters can avert another disaster by voting for Democrat Todd Crossett in this race and writing in Commissioner Karl Dye's name in his three-way race with Rich for the other commission seat. Anderson, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary in Stevens County, simply isn't qualified to be sheriff on several levels. He lacks law enforcement experience. He was one of the speakers at an August 1994 meeting in Wenatchee that featured Militia of Montana founder John Trochmann. He spent three months in jail after being arrested in December 2000 and convicted for obstructing an officer and failure to identify himself when stopped for driving with an expired registration. Earlier this fall he still insisted, incorrectly, that a misdemeanor "is not a jailable offense." A person with Anderson's background who can't distinguish between a misdemeanor and an infraction has no business leading a sheriffs office. Democratic incumbent Craig Thayer deserves re-election. Hess is involved in a five-way NIC trustee race. The Southern Poverty Law Cente.r ranks him among the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the country, although he denies being a racist. He showed his true colors when he shouted down U.S. Sen. Larry Craig earlier this fall in Coeur d'Alene during a discussion about immigration policies. He also called veteran human rights activist Tony Stewart a ''Bolshevik" as he stomped out of a town hall meeting. The best of the remaining four candidates are businessman Jim Coleman and Gonzaga University official Dennis Conners.
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1 'Evening to Remember' reception to mark closing of Anne Frank exhibit COEUR d'ALENE - The Human Rights Center will close the "Anne Frank - A Private Photo Album" exhibit and monthlong series of events with its "Evening To Remember" reception from 6-8 p.m. ThW'Sday. The reception will feature a special performance by Seattle drama group Living Voices, as well as dinner by Tony's On The Lake, beverages by Odom, live auction and a door prize. Auction items include a guided fly fishing trip, a cocktail cruise on Lake
Coeur d'Alene and dinner for eight at a private home prepared by Bonsai chef Troy Chandler. The reception will be the last opportunity to view the Anne Frank exhibit The exhibit, on special loan from The Anne Frank Center USA in New York City, includes 70 black and white photographs taken by Otto Frank of his daughters, Anne and Margot, ''before their lives were eclipsed by the Holocaust" The exhibit is being viewed by every eighth-grade class in school
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and Erin Hilleary, "Bearing Witness Extinguishes Intergenerational Hate." Anderson will conclude her presentation series with an international
districts 271 and 273. Additionally, the center has provided free workshops, speakers, movies and discussion sessions. The closing week will feature a series of presentations by Danica Anderson, world renowned forensic psychotherapist and one of nine victims experts of the International Criminal Court, which tries persons accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Anderson will share her extensive experience on the frontlines of
live video panel presentation at the Human Rights Center from 7 to 9 p.m. She will moderate a discussion on "Bearing Witness to Humanity Living in the Aftermath of War and Disaster" with guest speakers, including Victor Marambage, Sri Lanka Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Speakers will be partici-
violence during three presentations today. Anderson is the guest speaker at the Coeur d'Alene Chamber's November Upbeat Breakfast at 7:20 am at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Her presentation will discuss "Striving for Social Justice in an Unequal World." At noon at North Idaho College's Todd Lecture Hall in Molstead Library, Anderson will present, with business partners Misty McElroy
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pating through live video from India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Bosnia. The Human Rights Education Center is located on the northeast corner of Coeur d'Alene City Park. Tickets are $30 and are available at the door. Youth and students are free. Information:292-2359
The Press, Wednesday, January 10, 2007
JEROME A. POLLOS/Press
Colin Vigil listens to a presentation given by Marilyn Shuler, former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, during an assembly Tuesday at Hayden,Meadows Elementary.
Amessage of acceptance Assembly teaches fifth-graders about Martin Luther King Jr. and issues dealing with racism By LINDA BALL
the Coeur d'Alene and Post
Staff writer
Falls school districts welcome
HAYDEN - The words of
JEROME A. POLLOS/Press
Marilyn Shuler, former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, discusses the importance of human rights to fifth-grade students Tuesday.
Martin Luther King Jr. rang out strong and clear in North Idaho on Tuesday. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." That message is being brought to life this week as
Marilyn Shuler, past director of The Idaho Human Rights Commission, to speak to fifthgrade students about human rights. Tuesday, Hayden Meadows fifth-graders welcomed Atlas Elementary School fifth-graders for the presentation. Shuler was pleased to learn that the students had been see RIGHTS, C9
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studying Martin Luther King Jr., and they understood the importance of Rosa Parks. "If he were still alive, he'd only be 10 years older than me," Shuler said. "This is very recent history. But if we'd grown up together, we would have had very different lives. Do you know why?" One lone voice from the audience answered "because he was black?" Shuler told the kids they would have had to attend dif. ferent schools and drink from different water fountains. She recalled when she met Rosa Parks and SJ>Qke of what a sweet lady she was. She told them about Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group that had a headquarters in Hayden until just a few years ago. "He thought white Christians were better than anyone else," Shuler said. "One by one people stood up and said, 'I may be white, and I may be Christian, but anyone can live here.'" She spoke about when her friend, Bill Wassmuth, had his home in Coeur d'Alene bombed by those who didn't agree with his message, but yet he continued to champion for human rights. 'There are some real heroes here," she said. Shuler was diagnosed with polio when she was young and
relies on a wheelchair. "I became a social isolate, an outcast no one wanted to be with anymore," she said. "Even though we may look alike, we are all different" She said there is a big world out there with many different people. "If you move out of Idaho, you're going to see more people of color," Shuler said. That segued into a slide show she produced called "Children of the World," showing all colors, shapes and sizes of kids, even her own grandchildren. The show ended with the quote, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, it's never going to get better - it's not," from Dr. Seuss. Shuler asked the kids to close their eyes and think of how they would change the world. "What's your dream?" she asked. "That everybody would not be rude and accept everybody the way they are," said Lexie Young of Atlas. Hayden Nosworthy of Hayden Meadows had a similar dream. 'There would be no more fighting between blacks and whites, n he said. Friday morning, fifth-grad- ¡ ers from Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls will congregate at North Idaho College for the Human Rights Celebration, "Colors of the Wind." Monday, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, is observed as a state and national holiday.
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Students gather for annual Human Rights Celebration the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. ''The first ones are now 32 years Just saying "no" to racism was not old," Stewart said, "and some of their enough for the people of Kootenai children are here today." County; they also said "never again." More than 1,200 fifth-graders filled For the past 22 years, the community the auditorium to capacity on Friday. bas been ensuring that message Teachers were asked to give up their endures through its children, seats to students. The NIC auditorium specifically its 10-year-olds. soon may not be able to accommodate this celebration. Every year, in a sort of rite of passage, all 14 fifth-grade classes in The youngsters had already met the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls gather at keynote speaker, Marilyn Shuler North Idaho College's Schuler former director of the Idaho Human Rights Commission, who visited all 14 Auditorium for the annual Human Rights Celebration. elementary schools this week. As of Friday, more than 26,000 She told them that the Aryan students had participated in the program, according to Tony Stewart, of See RIGHTS, 88 BY K.E VIN GRAMAN Staff writer
JESSE TINSLEY The Spokesma n-Revrew
Marilyn Shuler spe.aks to a crowd of fifth-graders Friday at North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene during the annual event, which has gone on the past 22 years.
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Logan Elementary School student Jakhai Willis, center, sings and claps with other students Friday during a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at the Spokane school.
Plenty of ways to celebrate FROM STAFF REPORTS
Events commemorating the life of Martin Luther King Jr.:
Washington • Remembrance program: 4 p.m. Sunday at Spokane's Holy Temple Church ol God In Christ, 806 W. Indiana Ave.; Mike Tate, vice president for equity and diversity at Washington State University, will provide the keynote address. • Human rights celebrations: Monday events in Spokane begin at 10 a.m. with a brief program to include excerpts from King's speeches and a Native American ceremony in the atrium of the INB Performing Arts Center on Spokane Falls Boulevard. Annual Unity March "Rekindle the Light in the Dream" begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Michael Anderson statue in the breezeway between the performing arts center and the Convention Center. The march will end at River Park Square, where speakers will include Rodolfo Arevalo, president of Eastern Washington University, and the Rev. Happy Watkins will deliver King's "I Have a
Dream" speech. A volunteer/resource fair at River Park Square will follow from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watkins will deliver King's speech again at noon in the Holy Family Hospital Education Center, lower level, 5633 N. Lidgerwood Road. • Spokane Falls Community College remembrance luncheon: 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Building 17 Sub Lounges A and B, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive; $7 tickets, call (509) 533-4331. • Gonzaga University civil rights public prayer remembrance: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at the University Chapel, third floor of the administration building.
North Idaho • Celebrating Diversity Cultural Arts Fair: 3-7 p.m. Monday at the Harding Family Center, 411 N. 15th St.; event includes cultural activities, displays, music, stories and other information; sponsored by the Lewis-Clark Service Corps AmeriCorps North Idaho, (208) 664-9804. • Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations annual gala: 5-9 p.m. Monday at the Highlands Day Spa, 4365 E. Inverness Drive, Post Falls; $25 tickets available at the door.
Nations tried to make North Idaho a place only for white Chri tians. Instead white Christians were among those who stood up and aid "Idaho's for everyone." "Those people are heroes," Shuler said. "There are heroes right here.' She pointed out several members of the Task Force on Human Relations among the audience. Martin Luther King Jr. told us his dream, Shuler said, that people hould be judged "by the content of their character, not the color of their skin." The students, she aid, told her their dreams thi week. ome of them want to be doctors and cure the world of illness. Some want to end discrimination. When Shuler said, '4Some of you want to end war" her speech was interrupted by spontaneous applause from the children. "You children here can change the world," Shuler said. ''I know you can do it." It was the children who stole the show, particularly when Chelsea Miller, of Atlas Elementai-y chool, sang the national anthem, and Cheyenne Fisher, of Skyway Elementary School, sang "Golors of the World," the t~me of this year's celebration. It appeared many teachers put in a lot of overtime on the celebration, which was directed by Pam Pratt, Coeur d'Alene School District director of elementary education. At the heart of the program was a presentation by 14 students, one from each chool, who delivered "I Believe" statements. "Even though we all think differently, look differently and act differently, we are all the same people," said Jose I-Iernandez,ofRrunsey Elementary School. "Until we can learn to not judge others, we won't see them for who they are and how they enrich our world."
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Hess' new job sure to make news Adviser Nils Rosdahl and North Idaho College Sentinel editors will have their hands full this semester. tan Hes , who biJJ himself as a "European-American activist," has slithered through a crack in the college course offerings and presumably plans to use it for indocn·ination purpo es. At 62 he wants to become a student journalist. Or, more precisely, he's met the basic entrance requirement to be a entinel staffer he's paid his course fee for the for-credit newspaper class - and is poised to promote his white-is-beautiful viewpoint at the waterfront campus. Hes contend innocently that he'll take any assignment he gets from the young editors. Imagine He s interviewing Tony Stewart, the esteemed college instructor who has led the regional fight for human rights for a quarter of a century. Hess: So, Tony, when did you become a race traitor? Tony: Hunh? What's that question have to do with my political science classes? He s: Were you happy when Richard Butler died? Tony: This interview is over. Hes : W hy aren't there more white guys on the Cardinal basketball team. Tony, yelling: Nils! Since moving to Kootenai County from California, where he served as point man for ex-Ku Klux Klansman David Duke' European-American Unity and Rights Organization, Hess has been a nui ance. At a college Board of Trustees meeting last June, he touted a video that he claimed proves Europeans inhabited America long before the Indians. He believes the college ha become too Indian-centric. At a town hall meeting conducted by U.S. Sen. Larry Craig last Augu t, he disrupted the discussion with a rant about illegal immigration and called Stewart a name as he stomped out of the room. Last November, he captured U percent of the vote - 12 percent! while running on a pro-white platform in a five-way race for college trustee. No wonder Rosdahl's losing sleep. The NIC editor should rai e money for cholarships by charging adrnis ion to staff meetings thi spring. Not only will He s be eager to push the envelope but black Athletic Director Al Williams has joined the staff too. Managing Editor Alison Atwell and News Editor Holl Bowen shouldn' t be intimidated by Hess' age or philo ophy. When a ked for advice to give entinel editor ,
Spokesman-Review Ed itor Steve mith re ponded: "They are in charge of workplace just as we (professional editors) are. They're the ones who set the ground rules. They can add res attitude interpersonal behavior, respectful communication, et cetera. They can also assign stories, spike stories and keep out of the paper anything they find inappropriate or offensive. That's not censorship. T hat is new judgment. It' censor hip only if Hess can't !ind a n·ee omewhere to po t hjs rants." And if Hess objects and cau es a disruption? Smith said the editor should fire him on the spot and call campus security. Dozens of racists, separati ts, militia types and similar propagandist have been drawn to lily-white North Idaho to proselytize, only to be rebuffed. ome ran for office and lost. ome left. ome were impri oned. ome died. ome hared He s's interest in the printed word. Keith Gilbert, who bragged about plotting to kill Martin Luther King Jr., dropped by this paper's old Coew· d'Alene office on Fourth b·eet regularly in the mid-1980s. The talkative racist would gab with reporters while sifting through clippings. I once a ked him what he thought of Portugue e. He tarted to say something, paused, crutinized me and asked: "Are you Portuguese." When I said "100 percent," he responded, "You guys are all right." William Rhoads punctuated hl routine visits to our office one nowy day by accidentally ramming hi junker into my car in the parking lot. Vincent Bertollini, who boasted of circulating $1.5 million worth of racist material through his 11th Hour Remnant Mes enger ministry, addressed e-mails to reporters as "you and your Jew masters. ' Attorney Edgar Steele who represented Butler when the racist was sued into bankruptcy, addres ed me in e- mail as "Oliveria-rhymes-with-diarrhea' - too cluele s to know the final' i" in my surname is silent. Hess has the same rights as any other county resident to serve on the newspaper staff. In a best-case scenario, he'll learn how to write objective copy, setting aside hi political philosophy as good reporter do. No one should hold his breath, however. Old ideologue don t learn new o·icks easily.
D.F. Oliveria is an associate editor for The Spokesman-Review. Readers can reach him at daveo@spokesman.com or 208-765-7125.
House backs human rights N. Idah legi lat r oppose resolution BY BETSY Z. RUSSELL Staff writer
BOISE - A resolution declaring Idaho legi lators' support for human rights passed the House overwhelmingly on Monday, but nine members voted against it - including three from North Idaho. Rep. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d'Alene, said North Idaho doesn't need any reminders that it once was home to the Aryan Nations hate group. "I just think there's a group of people ... that like to keep ore wounds opened up,'' Nonini said after the vote. "Those people (the Aryan Nations) have gone away - we don't talk about it in North Idaho.' Idaho Reps. Dick LEGISLATURE Harwood, R-St. Maries, and Phil Hart, R-Athol, also voted against the measure, HCR 8. "I thought it was a crummy bill - we already got all that tuff in there," Harwood said. "It was just a feelgood, fuzzy thing.' Hart said, "I don't think in general we have a problem here. I think it' just a few isolated groups .... I think if we just ignored it, it would go away in my opinion, in time.'' Norm Gi sel, a longtime board member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, which stood up to the Aryan Nations for decades, disagreed. "Once we were asked that very same thing - isn't the task force being too loud and too aggressive, and wouldn't it be better for all of us if we were ilent and les expressive in our opposition to the Nazis?" he said. "I can t find a ingle example in the history of racism where it benefited anybody to be quiet about it.... You have to have public discourse about it.''
He added, "The advocate for ilence I think are good people, but I just think tactically and trategically they're wrong.'' The resolution's pon or, Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, said, "I just thought it was a good time to stand up and say, 'Let's pass a resolution backed by the Legislature to commit to the rest of the state and the world that we ad her to the Idaho Constitution and what both of our party platforms outline as protection of human rights.' It's al-
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most like renewal of wedding vows. I think we have to do the same thing in terms of human rights.'' The measure states that the ''Legislature of the state of Idaho is committed to principles of human rights and recognizes the unique value of the human character in its great diversity and wealth of variety." It notes that Idaho created its Human Rights Commission to enforce legal rights to be free from discrimination and that the "citizens of Idaho have endured an unwarranted, unfavorable barrage of fublicity related to certain opinions held by a small minority of persons who
claim Idaho as their home, but whose opinions we strongly denounce.'' Rep. Lenore Barrett, R-Challis, objected to that part, saying that while she guessed that probably referred to the Aryan Nations, people are entitled to have whatever opinions they want. Rep. Nicole LeFavour, DBoise, said that section was too vague. "Sometimes when things are stated in a vague fashion, we risk saying nothing or offending everyone,' she said, although she then voted for the resolution. Rep. Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, objected to the reference to the Human Rights Commission enforcing laws against age discrimination.
"Employers should be able to have that free hand to decide if they want somebody older or somebody younger,'' Nielsen declared. Two House members who are attorneys quickly objected, noting that age discrimination in employment is prohibited by both state and federal law. Those laws were enacted "a long time ago, I can tell you that,'' said Rep. Les Bock, D-Boise.
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D. F. OLIVERIA
wasn't surprised that Idaho Rep. Dick Harwood opposed a common-sense resolution in support of human rights. For years, the St. Maries Republican has delighted his eastern Benewah County handlers with his slams against the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe and sometimes other minorities. Harwood made a name for himself in his freshman term by using the racial terms "Jew 'em down" and "squaw." Harwood hasn't failed to disappoint since. Of the human-rights resolution sponsored by Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, Harwoodtsaid: "I thought it was a crummy bill - we already got all that stuff in there. It was just a feel-good, fuzzy thing." I was somewhat chagrined that state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, joined Harwood and seven other dissenters as the House voted 59-9 in favor of
COMMENTARY
Aryan Nations is gone, sued into bankruptcy by a courageous mother and her son who were attacked by goons guarding the Aryans' former compound on the rimrock above Hayden Lake. Founder Richard Butler is dead. The compound has been razed to such an extent that it's unrecognizable as the former site where the nation's who's-who of white supremacism congregated each year. Cows graze where Butler once fumed . the resolution. Hart, However, Nonini is wrong to a former suggest that North Idahoans should Constitutionalist who forget about the Aryans and move on. switched to the As a former reporter, who covered Republican Party the rebirth of the local human rights before his 2004 race, movement from 1984 to 1993, I heard refused to pay his one leader after another - from the income truces for late Bill Wassmuth to Norm Gissel seven years until he lost a quixotic and Tony Stewart - state that hate lawsuit in which he contended that grows in a vacuum. If it's not the IRS was misinterpreting the confronted, hate spreads, manifesting Sixteenth Ame.n dment. Otherwise, he itself in attacks against mixed-race hasn't been an embarrassment. Until couples and children, racist mailings, now. marches and even violence. North I was startled that perceptive state Idaho experienced all those elements Rep. ijob Nonini, R-Post Falls, was during the heyday of the hate counted among the naysayers. brigade. "I just think there's a group of Harwood, Hart and N onini have people ... that like to keep sore embraced the same misguided wounds opened up," Nonini said after approach that nervous Coeur d'Alene the House vote. "Those people (the business leaders did in the 1980s. Aryan Nations) have gone away - we In a back-room showdown don't talk about it in North Idaho." between human rights activists and Nonini, of course, is right that the business owners, the late Larry
North Idaho needs human rights resolve I
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Broadbent, who was the Kootenai County undersheriff at the time, was asked what would happen to the Aryans if there weren't a human rights movement to oppose them. Instead of 60 racists in the county, Broadbent said, there would be 600. Butler was trying to establish a whites-only "territorial imperative" in North Idaho. Meanwhile, business owners contended that human rights activists were helping racists by drawing attention and publicity to them. Gissel, a Coeur d'Alene attorney who assisted Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center in the civil lawsuit that bankrupted Butler and the Aryans, admonished the nine legislators who opposed the human rights resolution: "I can't find a single example in the history of racism where it benefited anybody to be quiet about it. ... You have to have public discourse about it." Nonini, to his credit, bas fought effectively for property tax relief and to protect water rights. House Republican leaders recognized his . passion and ability earlier this winter when they appointed the sophomore legislator as chairman of the Education Committee. But he needs a crash course on human rights and the importance of elected officials to stand firm against .discrimination, even for the sake of appearance.
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Trail's resolution, after all, has little impact, other than to send a message to racists and to minorities who suspect lily-white Idaho remains fertile ground for intolerance. With the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations standing watch, a 21st-century version of the Aryan Nations isn't likely to gain another toehold. However, racism persists, as is evident by the recent settlement between Lewiston's Wal-Mart and a black employee who'd been racially harassed for two years and then fired when he complained. Another indicator that North Idaho hasn't arrived as a center of enlightenment is the 3,252 votes attracted by "EuropeanAmerican" activist Stan Hess in an unsuccessful race for a North Idaho College trustee position last November. All elected officials from North Idaho should seize every chance to promote human rights and to denounce racism - as other North Idaho delegates did in supporting Trail's resolution. Anything less encourages ideologues still seeking a home for their hateful creed. D.F. Oliveria is an associate editor and member of The Spokesman-Review's editorial board. He can be reached at daveo@spokesman.com or (208) 765-7125.
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