Flathead Valley cannot be silent about supremacists

A front page story in the Daily Inter Lake on Jan. 12 informed readers that an alt-right neo-Nazi organization has postponed its planned “armed march” in Whitefish to mid-February. This was news because a despicable hate-group leader, Andrew Anglin, made it clear that he still plans to hold an anti-Semitic parade in Flathead County. The purpose of the parade is to intimidate minority groups and to silence those citizens who have stood against age-old hateful and un-American prejudices against minorities. Anglin’s decision comes on the heels of firm action by citizen groups to protest the views of the neo-Nazis and their local co-bigot.

This situation has arisen because of attempts by some to advertise and advocate for a “white” community in Montana and to urge hate against minorities. There has been a great deal of discussion about these developments in the Daily Inter Lake, including the publication of a principled and firm editorial by the newspaper against such hate and discrimination. The paper also published a letter signed by Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester and Rep. Zinke condemning the views of groups advocating religious, racial, or gender prejudices and policies.

Some letters to the Daily Inter Lake have expressed the view that we should ignore such groups and that they will go away. Others maintain that by standing firm against the fascists’ awful message, we give our region a bad reputation and hurt our economy. These approaches were tried in Idaho in the 1980s and 1990s, when neo-Nazi Richard Butler established the Aryan Nation complex near Hayden Lake. The head-in-the-sand policy of civic leaders and groups emboldened the neo-Nazis, who interpreted it as fear. Butler’s group encouraged a wave of violence against Americans, to include bombings and killings. All this harkened back to the time in America when lynchings of African-Americans were prevalent, and anti-Semitism was widespread. The current growth of radical hate groups is equally dangerous to our freedom and safety.

The correct way to defend American principles is to stand openly and peacefully against the neo-Nazi movement in the Flathead. Anglin and his ilk have every right to their views, but not the right to trespass on the rights and dignity of others. Our nation failed to stand up against McCarthyism in the 1950s, allowing it to destroy the careers and lives of thousands of innocent citizens. Americans leaders failed to stand against Jim Crow laws and racial prejudice until the mid-1960s. The good people of Idaho failed to stand united against the Aryan Nation for way too long. We must not make such mistakes again.

We need only look at the lessons taught by history in the 1930s when people underestimated the dangerous appeal of anti-Semitism. While our Constitution protects free speech, it does not condone action to take away the inalienable human rights of others. We should celebrate and openly support groups such as Love Lives Here which work to publicize the hateful messages of the alt-right and other fascist movements and to mobilize citizens to repudiate them. These groups did not create the brew of hate spewed forth by Anglin and his fellow travelers. Please learn from history and take a stand in favor of all Americans, regardless of race, creed, ethnic group, religion or sexual persuasion.

Scott Wheeler, of Kalispell, is a military historian.