Census Data Puts to Rest Racists’ Dreams of a ‘Whites Only’ Homeland in Northwest
From the SPLC’s Hatewatch:
The Aryan Nations and its late leader Richard Butler once sought to create a “whites only” homeland in the Inland Northwest. The group eventually was crushed by a Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit. Its compound was obliterated. And its membership was splintered.
Now, an analysis of Census data demonstrates that its dream, too, is dead.
Speaking today to the Kootenai County Democratic Club in Idaho, civil rights activist Tony Stewart offered the proof.
“I stand here 38 years after Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations arrived in northern Idaho to present to you the overwhelming evidence that diversity and a multiculture society are prevailing over the advocates of a whites-only region,’’ Stewart said.
Stewart, a retired professor with a background in statistics, said his analysis of census data shows that minority populations are growing much more rapidly that the white population in the state of Idaho, and in four North Idaho counties and adjoining Spokane County in Washington.
Turning that region into a “whites only” homeland was one of the main goals of Butler when he moved from California to Hayden Lake, Idaho, in the late 1970s and opened the doors of his Christian Identity church, commonly known as the Aryan Nations.
Not long thereafter, Stewart and others founded the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, which has received national awards and recognition for its model work in combating hate groups.
Stewart cited the Southern Poverty Law Center’s successful civil rights lawsuit against the Aryan Nations as a key factor in changing the public’s perception of the region.
More at link, including details of the SPLC’s successful suit against the Aryan Nations.