Task Force on Human Relations holds annual banquet

"Every human has rights."

Those words have been the focus of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations for 35 years.

"We would not be where we are today in Coeur d'Alene, as far as human rights goes, without Tony Stewart," said Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer, as more than 400 people rose to applaud the secretary and founding member of the task force Friday evening during the 19th annual Human Rights Banquet, hosted by KCTFHR, at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn.

The keynote speaker for the evening was John Stocks, executive director of the National Education Association. Stocks is the former executive director of the Idaho Fair Share nonprofit and a former Idaho state senator.

Stocks also praised Stewart, adding he has never met anyone more committed to championing human and civil rights.

"To this day I am still in awe of what the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has accomplished and how you have accomplished it," Stocks said.

Stocks lived in North Idaho in the 1980s when the Aryan Nations was the "most visible" white supremacist group in the United States. In the early 80s, he said there were 75 to 100 people living in the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, creating "mayhem" throughout the west.

"They wanted North Idaho for people who looked like them and hated like them," Stocks said. "To stand up to them was patriotism at its finest."

The task force and several other community members helped end the reign of the Aryan Nation in North Idaho, and the Hayden compound is now a "peace park."

Stocks said 50 years ago, whites made up 83 percent of the nation's population, and today that number has shrunk to 62 percent. According to the census bureau, in 28 years there will be no racial majority in America.

"Since we elected our nation's first black president in 2008, we have seen an increase in the number of hate and extremist anti-government groups in America," he said.

He spoke about "institutional racism," which he defined as "the norms, policies and practices that are structured into political, societal and economic institutions that have the net effect of imposing oppressive conditions and denying rights, opportunity and equality to identifiable groups based on race or ethnicity."

He said research shows white privilege still exists in schools and funding of schools with the majority of black, brown and native American Students are "chronically underfunded" compared to white-majority schools. This means, he said, that black, brown and Native American students are likely to have outdated textbooks and technology, overcrowded classrooms and less-experienced teachers.

He said he has learned a lot about white privilege, and that it is white privilege to insist that America is a "race-neutral" country because voters elected a black president.

"We are not now, nor have we ever been, a race-neutral country," he said. "We have to have constructive and authentic conversations about racism, always keeping in mind that opportunity for all is our goal."

After the speeches by Widmyer and Stocks, several awards were handed out to people who have made a difference in the community in regards to human rights.

"There are three journalists here that have been remarkable in telling it like it is and presenting research and accurate information, and they have really done what John Stocks said today about trying to help people move along and being respectful to others," Stewart said.

Two of the KCTFHR Civil Rights Excellence in Journalism Awards went to the Coeur d'Alene Press' own Maureen Dolan and Jeff Selle. Dave Oliveria from The Spokesman-Review was awarded as well.

All were awarded for several years of "excellent" reporting with articles that have made a positive impact on the region in regards to human and civil rights. The investigative research and reporting on Rachel Dolezal by Press reporters Dolan and Selle led to a series of stories that received worldwide coverage last summer.

"This is an incredible honor and I'm just really touched," Dolan said. "I am really proud to be part of this community."

Two board members of the newly formed Spokane County Human Rights Task Force received the KCTFHR Civil Rights awards: Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and Lisa Rosier, former chair of the Spokane City Human Rights Commission.

The Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Christie Wood, KCTFHR president, as well as to a longtime task force volunteer, Mark Weadick.

To top off the evening, five "outstanding" Idahoans were inducted into Idaho's Hall of Fame (see related article).