Task forces denounce racist claims
Members of human rights task forces in Bonner and Kootenai counties convened a press conference last fall to denounce hateful propaganda that was circulating in Sandpoint. (File photo/ CAROLINE LOBSINGER)
(Photo by CAROLINE LOBSINGER/FILE) Business, government and church leaders also denounced the racist flyers being distributed in Sandpoint last year.
SANDPOINT — North Idaho human rights groups are banding together and call upon residents to stand up against claims that the region is a redoubt for racists.
The Bonner and Kootenai county human rights task forces issued a joint statement condemning remarks made by a white supremacist Scott D. Rhodes which falsely label the region as “very white” and “very racist.” Rhodes, who recently relocated from California to northern Idaho, has been identified as the person responsible for the distribution of racist flyers and compact discs in Sandpoint, including at Sandpoint High School.
Rhodes is also believed to be the source of robo-calls to residents in Spokane and more than 350,000 calls to Californians which labeled U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein a “traitorous Jew,” in addition to threatening anti-Semitic calls in Alexandria, Va.
“We call upon all members of our region to step up and show in action and numbers that Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties will not tolerate hate, racism or anti-Semitism in any form,” Bridges said in the statement. “The BCHRTF and KCTFHR once again join forces to counter this new Sandpoint resident’s erroneous declarations and state what is true about our communities.”
It’s not the first time North Idaho has been marketed as an Aryan homeland by white nationalists and it’s not the first time locals in Bonner and Kootenai counties have galvanized to reject such notions.
The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in Coeur d’Alene has given financial and legal support to victims of hate crimes since 1981, when the group was founded. One of the most prominent cases occurred in 1998, when the task force convinced two victims of a serious hate crime to allow the task force and the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama to represent them in a civil case against the Aryan Nations and three of its adherents. The suit resulted in a $6.3 million judgment in 2000, which bankrupted the neo-Nazi group.
The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force formed in 1992 amid warnings that the Aryan Nations had been active in the area since 1980 and was growing more violent. Since then, the task force has taken a strong stand whenever racist activity threatened citizens of the region. It deposed the Aryan Nations and Vincent Bertollini, former publisher of the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger, which used direct-mail campaign to spread its anti-Semitic message.
The Bonner County Human Rights Task Force published a full-page advertisement bearing the signatures of 1,100 resident who refused to stay silent and pledged to speak out against hate. Since 2000, the task force has also distributed thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors who demonstrate their support for human rights. It also created an endowment fund to distributes $18,000 annually to organizations and schools for human rights activities and programs.
Holocaust survivors have also visited Bonner County to share their stories with adults and students on three occasions.
The two task forces joined forces in September to conduct a press conference denouncing Rhodes’ distribution of hate messages. They were joined by Sandpoint city officials, in addition to the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce and leaders in the religious community. The groups argue their opposition is the reason why hate groups have failed to flourish here.
Moreover, they point to Census figures of five Inland Northwest counties which demonstrate the rapid growth of racial diversity in northern Idaho and eastern Washington.
“All of this evidence that the portrayal of North Idaho as welcoming to bigotry and hatred is just not true! Those who attempted to make it so have failed as will Scott Rhodes’ message of hate fail,” Christie Wood, president of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations,” said in the statement.
Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.