the blue review

04

07

09

13

11

“States’ Rights”Idaho sides with the South against civil rights

The Latino VanguardA history of Idaho human rights legislation

The Aryan YearsButler, the press and the state of hate

Silencio en las EscuelasThe invisible population: English language learners

Teaching RaceDiversity from the teacher’s desk to the little chairs

More online at theblue review.org

WINTER 2014 PRINT EDITION | VOLUME 2, NUMBER 1 | RACE | THEBLUEREVIEW.ORG

The Blue Review is published by the Boise State University College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs, in collaboration with Boise Weekly

and Japanese experience in Idaho

Smoak on Idaho tribes and treaties

Feb. 23 (details inside)

“IS EVERYTHING ROSY?” BOBBY GAYTAN

2 THE BLUE REVIEW | VOL. 2, NO. 1 | WINTER 2014 PRINT EDITION thebluereview.org

3THE BLUE REVIEW | VOL. 2, NO. 1 | WINTER 2014 PRINT EDITIONPUBLISHED BY BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY AND BOISE WEEKLY

Racial Discrimination in Idaho: The Myth of the Colorblind State

TODD SHALLAT

Big Foot stands 7 feet tall in painted concrete at the city of Parma’s rep-

-

a Christian maiden spurned his marriage pro-

the end of a rope in Nevada. Others say he died

reprinted as facts.

Mountains. A stone monument near City of

drives frontier morality plays.

His-tory of Idaho

-

resistance to civil rights legislation. When

of human rights.

-

civil rights.

The Blue Review

Todd Shallat is academic editor of and directs the Center for Idaho History and Politics at Boise State University.

NOTE FROM THE ACADEMIC EDITOR

The Blue Review thebluereview.org @reviewblue facebook.com/reviewblue

The Blue Review is a web-native journal covering politics, cities, the environment and the media from the Boise State University College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs.

PublisherBoise State University Publications Office in the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs

EditorNathaniel HoffmanGuest EditorJill GillAcademic EditorTodd ShallatGraduate FellowAndrew Crisp Editorial BoardPolitics: David Gray AdlerCities: Jaap VosMedia: Seth AshleyMedia: Marcia FranklinDigital Culture: Leslie Madsen-BrooksCreative: Greg HahnDigital: Marshall D. Simmonds

Graphic Design Kelsey Hawes & Tomas Montano, Boise Weekly

Web Developer Aubrey Ellis

For inquiries and submissions:The Blue ReviewBoise State University1910 University Dr.Boise, Idaho 83725-1936Phone: [email protected]

When

Where:

What:

Friday, Feb. 21 6pm

Boise State downtown301 S. Capitol Blvd.

An open forum on race and Idaho moderated by Marcia Franklin, TBR board member and host of “Dialogue” on Idaho Public TelevisionFree & open to al l

JOIN WRITERS FROM

The Blue Review No. 4FOR AN OPEN FORUM ON …

CONFRONTING THE MYTH OF THE COLORBLIND STATE

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

IN IDAHO

JILL G

ILL

Photo of a house in Coeur d’Alene displaying “The South Will Rise Again” flags, March 2013.


Four decades of media coverage of white

supremacists in the “Too Great for Hate” state

daho spends millions each year pro-

-

-

-

-

retired as an engineer for a California aerospace

racist anecdotes.

BUTLER’S ARRIVAL IN THE NORTH

-

and its form of self-styled government called the

from California.

media coverage and letters to the editor in his failed attempt to secure tax-free status for the

Some Say Potato, Most Say Aryan Nations

PH

OTO

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF B

ILL M

OR

LIN

RACE & IDAHO


-

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN IDENTITY?

-

edge to criminal conduct and prison sentences. Butler’s devotion

-

to campaign signs.-

-

World Congress.”-

Spokane Daily ChronicleThe Spokesman-Review -

Butler and the Aryan Nations hosted the Aryan World Con-gress. Those annual gatherings attracted not only hundreds of

-

THE NORTH IDAHO ARYAN COMPOUND

-

often formed and many times hardened.

--

-tions decided the time had come to stop listening to Butler and in-

The Turner Diaries

RISE OF RACIST DOMESTIC TERRORISMThe daring domestic terrorists carried out a string

festered.

courthouse in Coeur d’Alene and at the home of Rev.

The Kootenai County human rights group gener-

-

-

the United States.

MA

RC

IA FR

AN

KLIN


Aryan Nations events.

moved to Sandpoint and spent thousands of

and videos promoting Butler and the Aryan Nations. The national media spotlight again

day-care center in Los Angeles.

state’s population.

-

-

THE POST-BUTLER ERA

-

a national model.

the Aryan compound eliminated the magnets

-

-ties for hate crimes and harassment. And since

-nances preventing discrimination in employ-

is no money to counter the image issue created

-

-

-

Bill Morlin covered extremism and criminal justice for the Chronicle and later,

, for 25 years, chronicling Butler and the Aryan Nations, as well as other Northwest extremist groups. He is cur-rently a correspondent for Salon.com and for the Southern Poverty Law Center publications and

where he writes about domestic terrorism and extremist groups.

Richard and Betty Butler’s gravesite in Coeur d’Alene.

JILL G

ILL

RACE & IDAHO


Athe past three decades as local human rights activists

-

These common refrains paint an attractive narrative that locates -

to the Panhandle from other places. California emigrant Richard Butler

population. He founded the Aryan

and turned his compound into a racists’ retreat and operations

they deserved.-

tive suffers from a major historical -

nocence and perpetuates legislative

Southern ties and already had a racist reputation. White Southern-

-

the hope of their electoral votes should he run for president.-

-

Dixiecrat senators mailed their arguments opposing the Civil

-

The greatest volume came from The Coordinating Committee for

man Time -

-

-

-peals also arrived under the names of the

federal civil rights legislation didn’t stem simply from Dixie’s urging. A critical mass

Southerners came courting. Many already

-

Playing Dixie: Idaho’s States’ Rights Alliance and the1964 Civil Rights Act

Idaho’s racial reputation predates Aryans’ arrival

-

CE

CIL

STO

UG

HTO

N, W

HIT

E H

OU

SE

PR

ES

S O

FFICE


Southern “interests coincided.”

-

non-Southern states that already had its

-

under consideration.

freedom of association they then enjoyed.

“We expect you to vote for the good of the country and not in a

should earn the right to integrate as other groups have.” Several

disengaged states’ rights values from the race issue. But most failed -

“Negro leaders are not demanding civil rights. They are demanding

had none. A lifelong union Democrat from Pocatello stated outright

civil rights legislation.

clustered in segregated sections of Boise and Pocatello. That same

highest percentage of votes for president that he received from any Western state.

-

-

-

-

side of middle.

resentful of the negative reputation he

the nation.

-

minority rights and cultural

they often act as if no injus-

rectifying. The self-protective

legislative complacency on human rights.-

-

Jill K. Gill, professor of history at Boise State University, specializes in race, rights and religion in U.S. history. Her current book project focuses on the history of black/white dynamics in Idaho.

COURTESY BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY ALBERTSONS LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTION

RACE & IDAHO


Tin a half-century struggle for state protection

Idaho Statesman edito-

challenged Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter

the State speech.

house in a predominantly Hispanic -

gantly proclaims “No Mexicans.” This contemporary example reminds us of “Whites Only” signs that tarnished the South in the pre-civil rights days.

many other commercial enterprises

-

violence and discrimination against

the list of states importing Mexican

-nesses told Mexicans and other minorities to stay out.

-

according to one account in the Lewiston Morning Trib-une

harmless enough.The editor of the Lewiston Morning Tribune heralded

-

pelled him to serve everyone. The editor’s message to the

assassination of civil rights leader

put the full force of the federal --

and other areas of daily life. The

-

and poverty. King’s murder in

-dled protocols of respect for the

and national origin together to demand change. During a peace-

participants called for the creation of a state human rights commis-

-

-

-

granted the proposed commission only investigative and

this served to create a commission to oversee the provisions

Latinos Continue to FightRacism in Idaho

Half-century of battles over anti-discrimination legislation still shape Idaho politicsIM

AG

E V

IA ID

AH

O S

TATE

HIS

TO

RIC

AL S

OC

IETY

CLIP

PIN

G FIL

E

-


-

-

-

rules forced the commission to rely on county advisory

-

-

including “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in the

Phil Batt to call them “fools.”

-

promote Mexican Americans to management positions despite their demonstrated competence and seniority. This

-ish on the premises. Many expressed frustration that their

-

-

religious community continually promoted tolerance and

-

-

-

--

-

Times-News

-

reason for singling out these agencies for elimination? One -

ance to creating the Human Rights Commission and the

Los Dos Mundos -Statesman

Mexicans/Hispanics are disproportionately overrepresented

-

-

-

Errol D. Jones, a native of Utah, is professor emeritus in the History Department at Boise State University. Jones joined the faculty of Boise State University in 1982 after teaching at universities in Texas, Utah, Mexico and Bra-zil. Trained in Latin American history, he specialized in the history of Mexico upon arriving at Boise State.

Migrant housing near Rupert, 1950s.

CO

UR

TE

SY

OF

TH

E F

OR

EIG

N R

ELA

TIO

NS

AR

CH

IVE

IN

ME

XIC

O C

ITY

IDA

HO

STA

TE

HIS

TO

RIC

AL S

OC

IETY

PH

OTO

-

-

governor.

RACE & IDAHO


completion rates of its students. According to

curriculum materials and teacher training. This

diversity education and its central role in student

educational system should provide effective and

negative repercussions of not providing educators --

given the opportunity to learn and understand the importance of a culturally inclusive curriculum.

-

including providing more funding.-

-

-ing. Multicultural information is treated more as a marginal topic for certain teachers destined for

A Plea forInclusive Curricula

Add diversity training to the state’s schoolreform wish list

0 - 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Source: Idaho State Department of Education

Percentage of white students in Idaho school districts

Plummer-Worley40% Native American

Lapwai84% Native American

Wilder75% Hispanic

Caldwell58% Hispanic

Bear Lake County94% white

Madison1% African American

Jerome48% Hispanic


halls as standard fare for all educators.

students a year across the state. They are also generally familiar

-

Idaho Press-Tribune

aren’t prepared to meet the needs of diverse student populations into increasingly diverse school districts.

GRADING THE CURRICULUM-

-

-

-

agriculture and science.

-

-

INTERNALIZED RACISM IN THE SCHOOLS

-

-

-

-

-

multiculturalism seriously.

-

-neous area to participate in higher education.

DIVERSITY IN IDAHO SCHOOLS

Hispanic or students of color. According to information from the

school population.

communities and to the nation provides an essential element

-

of color.

-

educators more effectively teach a culturally inclusive curricu-lum. There are progressive institutions around the country that

University of Missouri-Kansas City are among many schools

teaching practices that are designed to improve the academic success “of ethnically diverse students.” These essentially echo

-

-porating culturally inclusive material into our teacher prepara-

-

of the dialogue.

Keith Anderson attended the Utah State University School of Graduate Studies and later the University of Idaho, where in May 2006, he received a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership. He played football at Boise State and has pub-lished two novels, A Field Day and

RACE & IDAHO

Wilder 77%Caldwell 61%Jerome 51%Blackfoot 40%Blaine County 40%Nampa 37%Mtn. Home 31%

Twin Falls 26%Boise 22%Pocatello 19%Emmett 16%Meridian 16%Moscow 14%

of select Idaho School districts


W-

-

-

-

learning student populations across the na-

need for extra resources.The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the

percent of the total U.S. population. Of the elementary and secondary school children

-

-

Leave Your Maletas at HomeEducation for English language learners

in rural Idaho

maletas

NA

TH

AN

IEL H

OFFM

AN


include large rural areas.

of economically disadvantaged students and

and Marty Strange of the Rural School and

curriculum development and assessment

students enrolled in rural schools are often

they seem to contradict the recommendations

THE COMPLEXITY OF RACIAL DYNAMICS IN RURAL AREAS

The percentage of Latino teens dropping

across the country than that of African Ameri-cans and Caucasians every year for the past

-

variety of indicators regarding Latino educa-

to have dropped out of secondary schools

Latino students had the hardest time meeting

the language standards. The data presented

Latino students experience education in rural

Latinos in Treasure Valley, Idahostudents explored issues that have impacted

their trajectory in the education system. -

impact in their lives in school settings. Many

-

-

frustrated and isolated this experience made

-

or relegated to an inferior status in school.

silent and complaisant. Despite the common

-Borderlands/La Frontera:

The New Mestiza-

Silencing students’ voices seriously curtails their active participation in school life. With

-

-

-

T H I N K W O R L D

Lottery Open Houses FEB 19 & 20

995-0301www.sageinternationalschool.org

A Public School of

RACE & IDAHO


-

discrimination he and his peers experienced

-

--

-

-

in the teaching force either. This may corre-

percent of teachers are from the same ethnic

-

This unstated discrimination impacts

-

-

-

-tion dismantled the scholarship for teachers

-

-tations may arise from teachers’ personal

-tions affect the academic opportunities

-

-

-

levels of investment in the learning of each

factors play a crucial role in the students’ academic achievement. Unless students

Claudia Peralta has a Ph.D. in social, mul-ticultural and bilingual education, equity and cultural diversity from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is an associate professor in the Department of Literacy at Boise State’s College of Education.

The author would like to thank Kelly Holmes for her helpful review and edits and Sonia Galaviz who provided constructive feedback on the draft of the manuscript.

the blue review

Documents

org3the blue review

orgthe blue review

idaho tribes

theblue review

print edition thebluereview

print edition volume

print editionpublished

civil rights legislation