racism in coeur d'alene (Sandpoint, Plummer: buying, casino, camps)

[Count David]

Originally Posted by ejay

They tried to use Randy Weaver to infiltrate the Aryan Nations because he had went to a few of their meetings. He was not a member of the group and did not want to be. They got him to saw off a shot gun stock a little too short and used that as leverage against him. His family paid the price...

Yeah, that's what I thought.

I just think it's odd when Ruby Ridge is cited as one of the indicators of NID being racist.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Can someone answer me this question...What did racism have to do with Ruby Ridge?

Easy answer. Our federal government, in the midst of proving to us that we SHOULD fear our government, painted Randy Weaver as somehow unworthy of deserving equal treatment under the law.

Weaver held quasi-biblical "apocalyptic" views and he and Vicki were known to believe that blacks are an inferior race. These views are part of what hurt him when running for Boundary County Sheriff in 1988. He also went voluntarily to at least one Aryan Nations meetings in Hayden, which is where he met the federal agent who entrapped him and set him up.

Bottom line is that while the government agencies involved badly mishandled every facet of this issue and badly abused Randy Weaver's rights, by them calling him a "white supremist gun nut" they somehow make him appear less deserving of the $3.1M settlement the government had to pay their family for the deaths of Weaver's wife and son (and the $380K Kevin Harris was paid AFTER it was ruled that he shot the deputy in self defense and was himself shot without cause).

Do I care for Mr. Weaver's end-times and race views? Nope. I find it pretty fanatical and repulsive. Does it mean the government can act like thugs? No way.

But I'm sure that a lot of Americans hear those "bad" buzzwords and write it off as "he deserved it"...THAT is the problem when racism is brought into these cases...it gets used wrongly EVERY time it's brought up....

[Sage of Sagle]

Oh, and the reason he was in NID had nothing to do with race. He actually went to Montana to live off grid and await the apocalypse, but land there was too expensive and he found 20 acres in NID for $5000. So the only "attraction" for him in North Idaho was cheap land...

[banjomike]

As I recall, Randy Weaver eventually went full circle and moved back to Iowa. And from what I remember, his wife held stronger views than Randy, but I'm sure he must have agreed with them.

There are lots of disaffected loners who want to be left alone all over the Intermountain West. The problem for most of them is they are 20th century people, who grew up with all the basic conveniences, living in communities, and never knowing a thing about what real isolation is.

My Grandfather's generation sure knew isolation, and they hankered for the opposite. Their ambition was to own a little home in town, where they could be around other people, especially new folks. They got mighty tired of seeing the same faces and talking about the same things day after day.

The Little Cabin Home in the West is not as sweet as it sounds in the middle of a hard winter with two more months of it to come. Folks can leave their urban lives out here, but they have a much harder time changing their life styles and expectations. Survivalist living is a hard, bone grinding life style that mostly isn't very much fun.

[cherieplum]

Hello folks! I've been browsing the Idaho forums, and found the responses to be most helpful. I'm reviving this thread because my question is somewhat similar to the OP's.

I'm considering a move to CdA, primarily because I'm an athlete (shooting for Ironman) who loves the outdoors. Secondarily because I prefer slower-paced life and smaller cities. I'm also an asian woman, and a physiotherapist.

Some background: I'm originally from Alaska, currently in California. I've lived all over the place (my dad was USAF, I've never lived anywhere longer than 3-4 years), so I adapt and mingle well pretty much anywhere I go.

But I've spent most of my life in big cities, and I'm used to diversity. From what I've read from older threads, I won't really get that in CdA. On top of that, I'm single. I'd like to move somewhere where interracial families aren't considered particularly strange -- i.e., I'd like to settle down eventually. Any thoughts on those chances in CdA? I've seen posts from people bringing interracial families to ID, but haven't seen anything about starting one....

(I'm also considering PDX, but it's bigger and more expensive than I'd prefer.) Thanks.

[Count David]

Cherieplum, I think you'd be more fine in CDA than you'd think.

[IdahoDreamin]

Originally Posted by Shaner

Having a friend here in CDA who is of arabic decent, I have found that both sides are in the wrong. He pisses people off with arrogance and then when people do things to him he calls racism when it really is just because he was ugly towards them and people are stupid. This area is finally becoming more diverse and it is a nice change. But I will say to the person above, that just because somebody has a shaved head doesn't mean they are skinhead.

Amen to that! My head is shaved and I love everyone!!

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by cherieplum

Hello folks! I've been browsing the Idaho forums, and found the responses to be most helpful. I'm reviving this thread because my question is somewhat similar to the OP's.

I'm considering a move to CdA, primarily because I'm an athlete (shooting for Ironman) who loves the outdoors. Secondarily because I prefer slower-paced life and smaller cities. I'm also an asian woman, and a physiotherapist.

Some background: I'm originally from Alaska, currently in California. I've lived all over the place (my dad was USAF, I've never lived anywhere longer than 3-4 years), so I adapt and mingle well pretty much anywhere I go.

But I've spent most of my life in big cities, and I'm used to diversity. From what I've read from older threads, I won't really get that in CdA. On top of that, I'm single. I'd like to move somewhere where interracial families aren't considered particularly strange -- i.e., I'd like to settle down eventually. Any thoughts on those chances in CdA? I've seen posts from people bringing interracial families to ID, but haven't seen anything about starting one....

(I'm also considering PDX, but it's bigger and more expensive than I'd prefer.) Thanks.

Being asian here is completely a non-issue. Nada. Even here in "less populated" Sandpoint there are several asian families, intermarried with white families, and it's a non-issue.

[cherieplum]

Thanks for the feedback, David Aguilar and Sage of Sagle. It's very helpful. I just decided to sign up for the CdA marathon so I can check it out more thoroughly.

Originally Posted by Sage of Sagle

Being asian here is completely a non-issue. Nada. [snip]

This begs the question: is there an ethnicity that would have an issue? Un poquito? Because that would still make me uncomfortable.

Edited to add: I'm not implying that life down here in the Southwestern states is Small-World happiness (which you all likely already know). Members of my family who moved from Alaska to Las Vegas encountered more hate ("ch**k go home") in NV. I'm just curious... and a little fearful to leave familiar big city settings, I suppose.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by cherieplum

This begs the question: is there an ethnicity that would have an issue? Un poquito? Because that would still make me uncomfortable.

There appears to be a small (but growing) Hispanic population in PF/CDA.

I didn't feel as if there were any racism problems there.