Thomas Carter: Stand up for what's right

<p>SHAWN GUST/Press Thomas Carter is the executive director for the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene.</p>

by BILL BULEY
Staff Writer | July 15, 2012 9:15 PM

COEUR d'ALENE - Thomas Carter had two strong influences growing up in the Bay area of California: His father, and his grandfather.

He didn't want to be like his dad.

"My dad had a hard life. He was very bigoted, very racist. It's funny that he married a Spanish American. There were always racial slurs. There was no line. Teaching that and promoting it really come in inappropriate ways. 'Here's a song for you,' and singing a totally inappropriate racial song. Even as a child I looked at it and went, 'Wow.' I always grew up saying, 'I don't want to be like him.'

"My father was a mean, bigoted person. I definitely didn't want to grow up that way. I made a point not to."

Then, there was his grandfather, Salvador Lopez Leiva.

That was a man he wanted to emulate.

"My grandfather worked for Chrysler, started out as groundskeeper. That's the only job he could get, prune bushes, he pruned the roses, mowed the lawn, he weeded, he learned at a young age how to graft trees. And did a great job. His work ethic shined through. He got promoted, promoted, promoted. When he left Chrysler and retired, they gave him a brand new Cordoba, and a gold watch, and he was the vice president of the plant. From the groundskeeper to the vice president of the plant as a Spanish immigrant."

"From him, I learned work ethic and doing the right thing, how you treat people."

Carter was recently hired as director of the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d'Alene.

In his travels, he's faced racism. He knows how to defeat it.

"In our core as a human, we all know right from wrong. We all know deep down what's right and everybody should be treated equal," he said.

And he's leading the way, in Coeur d'Alene.

How have things been since you arrived at HREI?

They've been difficult. It's been very difficult. But at the same time, we see a clear line of progression that moves in an upward fashion. There's been great directors here prior to me, and they've done great programs and helped out the community and done great things in schools, but nobody really focused on fundraising.

In order for us to be viable and sustainable, we have to fund raise. We had a wonderful grant from the Carr Foundation.

By spending money, we've done great events, but at the same time, I found a lot of events we can do by grant writing to local businesses as well as other businesses, and support from fundraising. We've been able to have a wonderful speaker series and we have at least two or three events every month, the community can come in, 100 percent free.

I'm very focused on fundraising. For HREI to be sustainable, we have to fund raise. We have a golf tournament coming up July 26 out at Circling Raven and the tribe's been highly support us, and that's great.

Why did you want this job?

Basically, to give back to others in a more impactful way. Something I can look back on my life and say, 'I definitely made a difference." That's something I need to do as a person and want to do.

Why is HREI important to you?

It's always important for me to give back and to leave their world making a mark, a mark that doesn't stain society, but makes us be better people for one another. That's the biggest point.

Why is HREI important to the community?

Number one, for education. Teaching acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, respect and dignity for all. One person can make a difference.

What's the biggest challenge you face at HREI?

Our biggest challenge is financial.

What's the best way to fight racism?

I'd like to use somebody who's taught me a wealth of information and I look up to as a mentor is Tony Stewart. Without fueling the fire, not giving the hate and audience a platform to preach and get that out there, educating people about acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness and dignity. We can do that without combating hate and confronting them firsthand.

When people want to promote hate and bigotry of that nature, we don't want to give them an audience.

Do we still have a problem with racism in North Idaho?

We have a problem with racism, dignity and respect in the world. Not just focusing on North Idaho. How do we take care of that? Educate people. Eleanor Roosevelt said it's got to start at home and it does. I was at a dinner party the other day and somebody said, 'How can you make a difference?' Everybody can make a difference. It takes one person. How can one person make a difference. Let's look at it. Let's look at Marshall Mend, let's look at Norm Gissell, let's look at Tony Stewart, let's look at Gandhi. On the other side, let's look at Mussolini and Hitler and people like that. This one individual made a huge difference. We just want to make it the difference that helps people, and doesn't hurt people.

It's not just here. It's not just in Coeur d'Alene. It's in Spokane. It's in Lewiston. It's in Moscow. It's in New York, it's in LA. It's everywhere.

What can we do in Coeur d'Alene?

Let's expand out from here and make us the epicenter of saying, "Hey, this is where human rights start, this is it."

Coeur d'Alene is still predominately white folks. Will that ever change?

As Coeur d'Alene grows, and the population increases, it's going to bring in more and more of a diverse group, I think with that diversity will bring in more acceptance. My thing is, skin tones are skin tones. Down deep, we're all human beings.

That's my goal. For everybody to see someone just as a human, not as their race or religion or sexual preference. Just as a human being.

What is your background in human rights?

I worked in the Outback of Australia with aboriginals. In 2005, I went there to teach in a multi-cultural diverse group. My buddy and I wanted to make a huge difference and wanted something that would last, that we could remember. We had a great time. The diversity was totally on the other hand. We weren't very well accepted at first. By the time we left, we were asked to stay, asked to come live there. I said, 'I don't think my wife would stay with me if I live in the middle of the Outback.' 'But you can have 40,000 acres, Tom. It's really cheap. Five to $15 an acre.' I said, 'I don't think that would sell it, either.'

I've worked with youth and adolescents through education in teaching tolerance for almost 20 years. I've worked in Jamaica and Asian and Central America. I've traveled extensively and worked with a lot of different groups.

What led you to Coeur d'Alene?

I've worked all over the United States and different places of the world. I've found, for me, nothing has what back home has. I have fishing, and hunting and I can go to the mall, I can have a five-star dinner, and everything is roughly within an hour. When I was worked in other places, I had to travel three and a half hours just to find one ski resort. That's too far. I believe people are so friendly. It's just a great place to live.

SNAPSHOT

Thomas Carter

Date of birth: April 15, 1964

Family: Son, 14, two daughters

Education: Bachelor's degree from Gonzaga University, master's from Whitworth University

Number of hours on average you work in a week: 60

Number of hours on average you sleep in a night: 6-7

Hobbies: Scuba diving, master diver, flying, woodworking, shooting, hunting, fly fishing.