The ugly truth is that Idaho harbors Nazis. They harass and intimidate gays, young people, environmentalists, Jews, immigrants and people of color in Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Bonners Ferry, Spokane and elsewhere in the Northwest. They sow division among working people, pick fights, rob banks, burn crosses at Black churches, shoot unarmed people. But the fascists of the Aryan Nations and their supporters can grow only if public officials, civil rights leaders and ordinary citizens fail to mobilize their communities to confront these bigots. Silence emboldens them.
Fear is the soil in which they take root.
Today the Nazis and white supremacists are a small, reviled minority. But their politics of scapegoating are echoed by many politicians eager for votes. These local Hitlerites also have rich friends who bankroll their activities and help to spread their irrational philosophy around the world, from Hayden Lake to your hometown. Make your voice heard today. Send a strong message to the Aryan Nations that the people of the world are united against them.