Dear HCN,
Stephen Lyons’ article on
the Aryan marchers in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was terribly misleading
and distorted against Idaho (HCN, 8/16/99). When I moved to this
area in 1977, I had no idea about the Aryans. It wasn’t long before
I learned of them firsthand. We would all like Butler and his group
to be banned from our midst, from the state, from the country. But
of course the laws that allow him his visions are the ones that
allow the rest of us ours.
What I worry about is
the press coverage depicting our area as a haven for Nazis. This is
what Butler and group want, for this negative press scares off
anyone of another color from moving here. The more that people like
Mr. Lyons write about the tiny band of idiots, the more the rest of
the world brands us as racists. Unfair to 99.99 percent of
us.
Mr. Lyons made it sound like only in Hayden,
Idaho, can the Nazis flourish because of the lack of diversity and
the general mentality. But travel to many a rural Western town and
you will find a similar lack of diversity. Stop singling out us as
the evil place that allows the Nazis to thrive in our
midst.
M.
Wells
Granite,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Lyons is unfair to Idaho.
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