'AN ANTIDOTE OF HOPE'

By DEVIN HEILMAN

Staff Writer

In 1986, a national correspondent for The Baltimore Sun visited the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden.

That was a week after three bombs associated with the anti-Semitic group exploded in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"That's the kind of story that we jumped on," journalist Doug Struck said during a phone conversation Friday with The Press.

Struck, of Boston, was based in the Sun's San Francisco bureau at the time. Now a freelancer, Struck was in Colorado when the "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally protest in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent and tragic.

It reminded him of the story he covered more than 30 years ago, when North Idaho was facing its own dark struggles with the Aryan Nations.

His article, "The Idaho town that stared down hate — and won," was published Thursday by The Christian Science Monitor, an independent, Pulitzer Prize-winning international news organization.

"I thought this would be a good opportunity to go back to Coeur d'Alene and do a story about how they dealt with a similar challenge of white supremacists and Nazis," he said. "I went up there (earlier this summer) and folks who were involved in that struggle were very helpful."

From the get-go, Struck paints a scene of a menacing presence where the "'church' dripped with Nazi flags, swastikas, and racist war cries."

"It was the same toxic ideology that brought violence to Charlottesville, Va., and for years it poisoned this town," Struck writes. "Coeur d’Alene became code for white supremacists.

"But what happened here offers an antidote of hope."

Struck's writing focuses on the way North Idaho came together to combat the hate with peace. He discusses the way the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations held counter-protests to keep people from attending the Aryan marches.

"For one event, (Tony) Stewart enlisted local businesses and individuals to pledge money to human rights groups for every minute of a planned Aryan Nations march, and then publicly urged (Richard) Butler to march slowly to raise more money for his opponents," Struck wrote.

“'They marched for 27 minutes and we got $34,000,'” Stewart chuckled."

"It was very inspiring, and I think it was a story that people ought to be reminded of," Struck said. "There are places that are dealing with this successfully, and places that have found ways to push back without it blowing up into violence."

Stewart, a KCTFHR founding member and current secretary, said a friend in Paris forwarded him the link to the article early Friday morning.

"When I read this, my reaction was very pleased with how well (Struck) did it and what an honor it was for so many people who've been involved in this struggle for so long," Stewart said.

It was common for national media to swoop into Coeur d'Alene when the Aryan Nations activities were happening and when the Butler trial took place in 2000. Stewart said when it was over, he figured he and the Task Force would be contacted about the trial for maybe a year.

"Here we are, 17 years later, and it's still going on," he said. "This article in The Christian Science Monitor is an example of what we get now. I love that headline; it's just an excellent headline."

Although North Idaho was successful in many ways, Struck's story touches on how the work isn’t over.

"In recent years, racist leaflets have been scattered about town," he writes. "A few white supremacists picketed a human rights gala ball. Food trucks owned by Hispanics were vandalized and the owners harassed."

He also referenced The Press ("the daily newspaper"), which "on a recent day, had an editorial saying 'Love is the answer,' next to letters to the editor making a thinly veiled analogy of newcomers to 'nasty little beasts' and another blaming the 'alt-left communists' who confronted the marchers in Charlottesville."

Struck's article is not a "how-to" piece for communities that are embroiled in human rights and race struggles.

"We've visited communities all over America through the years," Stewart said. "What we always do when we tell the story is, we never go into a community and say, 'We're here to tell you what to do. We're here to be supportive of what communities have done.'"

But it is a remark on the ongoing efforts of a community that refuses to let hate win.

"I think this article should be one the people are very pleased with," Stewart said. "It talks about the rights of all people and the victory over hate."

"I thought it was a compelling story," Struck said. "I was very pleased to do it."

Struck's article can be found at: www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0831/The-Idaho-town-that-stared-down-hate-and-won