Dear HCN,
Stephen Lyons told us in
the last issue that he left hate-filled Idaho for the more
progressive state of Washington (HCN, 3/16/98). Since I made that
same move last autumn, here’s my response to his
essay:
Dear
Stephen,
Welcome to Washington! You’ll find
excellent coffee, happy diversity and easy access to recycling.
Enjoy them. Welcome to open-mindedness, high-mindedness, clear
thinking and clean living.
Idaho will miss you.
Not the racists (they’re not limited to Idaho, by the way), not the
backward county commissioners (been to rural Washington yet?), not
the greedy developers (check out Bellevue when you’re here), not
the dandy Idaho politicians (is there really a man more reactionary
or bigoted than Slade Gorton, Washington
Republican?).
But you bailed out on some good
people and on Idaho, the place. The wildest spread of mountains in
the West – that great yonder in the middle of Idaho – might miss
you. They need a strong voice.
Your assessment of
Idaho is simple, statistical and rhetorical; soundbite and headline
stuff.
I’ve felt the same anger about Idaho’s
bigotry. But think of Wallace Stegner’s writing as you look out at
the Seattle traffic (or is it Pullman? Leavenworth? Olympia?), at
raindrops making legs on the window. There are people who pass
through places like Idaho and “stickers’ who set down roots. Think
of William Kittredge writing about environmental degradation (it
could as well be about racism) when you consider making a stand:
“Many of us are seeking ways to stop that devastation; we think it
is an enterprise of uttermost urgency. We at least think we are
trying to save the world, which is a particularly powerful way of
saving ourselves.”
You begin with the image of
the Coeur d’Alene mayor wringing his hands about how to deal with
racism. Your response is less than helpful to a mayor who needs
support. Running encourages a bully and a racist. You fear
questions from relatives about the racists in northern Idaho. But
your response is this question: “How do we defend the
indefensible?” My suggestion: Condemn the indefensible, don’t
defend it.
I suppose that the world is not ours
to change so much as it is to understand. That is a life’s work,
whether in Idaho or in Washington.
I have been in
Seattle for six months now – I left Idaho for some of the same
reasons you did – and have been considering whether to move back to
Idaho when I finish school in June. Your essay has helped me to
understand which way I am traveling. We might just pass on the road
home.
Mike
Medberry
Seattle,
Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Idaho’s racists give us a choice.
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