Idaho for All combats racism ‘boldly for good’

Idaho for All combats racism ‘boldly for good’

Coeur d’Alene group hosted Juneteenth walk, will work with other groups to combat racism

News story by Emma Ledbetter | FāVS News

In the wake of a string of alarming racist incidents, a coalition of North Idaho women is taking a stand. They launched a grassroots movement to transform their community into a beacon of inclusivity and tolerance.

The group, Idaho for All, formed after a man driving a truck reportedly stopped and yelled racial slurs at the University of Utah Women’s Basketball team when they were staying in Coeur d’Alene for the NCAA Tournament in March. The NCAA and Gonzaga moved the team to a hotel closer to the tournament venue in Spokane for their safety. 

“Something snapped in me,” organizer Lauren McCroskey said of the March incident. “We cannot be tolerating this.”

McCroskey connected with other women on Facebook who felt the same. After an initial meeting, they wanted to acknowledge and respond to the harassment with a candlelight vigil but later pivoted to hosting a Juneteenth walk, McCroskey said. 

Commemorating Juneteenth

The group’s Juneteenth walk was the first of its kind in the Coeur d’Alene area. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. This happened over two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

As they planned the event in May, a group of men reportedly harassed students from the Coeur d’Alene Tribal School while they were walking in a downtown park during a field trip. 

“It just fueled us to do this [walk],” McCroskey said. 

Over 100 people attended the walk, which followed a Juneteenth panel discussion hosted by the Human Rights Education Institute. 

“I think it meant a lot to show that this is who we — Coeur d’Alene and North Idaho — are and want to be,” she said. “Some of the people who walked were shocked that there were so many people in the area who were supportive of something like that. I think we surprised each other.”

Combating white supremacy

Spokane and North Idaho have been a hotbed of white supremacy for the last 50 years, ever since Richard Butler established the Aryan Nations in Hayden Lake, according to a list of hate incidents compiled by The Spokesman-Review. 

“When these incidents happen and there aren’t any consequences, it just gives them the green light to try again,” McCroskey said. “We have a lot of work to do about that.”

The man who allegedly yelled racial slurs at the basketball team in March was not charged because of “insufficient evidence,” according to KREM2. 

Idaho is more complicated than the hate and bigotry people hear about most often, said Veradale United Church of Christ Rev. Gen Heywood. Welcoming and inclusive group play an important role countering Idaho’s historical reputation, she added.

“What makes the news is Idaho behaving badly. [Idaho for All] is part of Idaho behaving boldly for good,” Heywood said.

Gathering like-minded groups

Idaho for All now meets monthly, though McCroskey said it is not a formal organization with administrative tasks. The members seek to bring the community together and fill in the gaps left by other organizations, instead of duplicating the work others are already doing. 

Their next meeting is at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 11 in the Parish Hall at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 501 E. Wallace Ave. in Coeur d’Alene.

The meeting on Oct. 9, at the same location, will gather organizations similarly focused on advocating for equity and combating bigotry. Some of the groups planning to attend include Democrats and Republicans Together, HREI, Kootenai County NAACP, North Idaho Pride Alliance and several progressive churches and religious groups.

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