Crowd Rallies Against Hate Hate Letter Sent Last Month Causes Spokane Black Woman To Speak Out Against Racism And For Rights Of Individuals

Karen Boone didn’t plan on becoming a human rights activist.

But when she received a letter last month that called her a “nigger” and told her to go “to Africa and swing with the baboons,” she had to take a stand.

Boone, 37, spoke out against racism.

“Hate happens in Spokane,” she said. “Because of this incident, I’ll never be the same. I have no choice now but to speak on behalf of the human rights of individuals.”

For almost an hour Friday, Boone was joined by more than 50 people at a noon rally in downtown Spokane.

They gathered at Riverfront Park, on the busy corner of Post and Spokane Falls Boulevard. As cars zoomed by and joggers ran past, they listened to speeches and sang songs.

“Silence is hate-friendly” and “Diversity not Divisiveness” were just some of the messages on the posterboards. A few signs questioned a recent magazine article that rated Spokane as one of the best places to raise a family: “Is Spokane really a good place to raise children?” “Spokane: Number Eight for Hate.”

The racist letter sent to Boone was in response to a “Your Turn” column she wrote last month for The Spokesman-Review. The letter eventually was published in Spokane’s African-American Voice as well as The Spokesman-Review. Many who read it were shocked. Others were angry.

“This is what Spokane looks like,” human rights activist Eileen Thomas said as she looked to a mixed crowd of young and old, blacks and whites, people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. “If people don’t like it that way, they need to leave Spokane … We don’t need discrimination.”

When Boone first read the letter, she was overcome with fear and pain, she said. She felt vulnerable, violated.

“Get over it,” people told her. “Get used to it. This will be your way of life in Spokane.”

But Boone said she refused to accept that.

“Don’t force me to go back 20 years (when people) based judgment by the color of skin,” she told the crowd Friday. “That’s not going to happen. I’ve worked too hard to overcome that.”

Police are still investigating the source of the racist letter because it may constitute criminal harassment, said Dick Cottam, spokesman for the Spokane Police Department. The letter was signed, but The Spokesman-Review is not certain the signature is authentic.

Cottam, who declined to release any information about the investigation, did note that Spokane was the first city in the state to establish a policy that deals specifically with crimes of hate and bias.

Meanwhile, Boone and her supporters continue to speak out. At Friday’s rally, members of various organizations and human rights groups stepped up to denounce the racist letter.

“When it happens to our sisters and brothers, it happens to all of us,” said Fran Green, director of the YWCA’s multicultural services.

People from as far away as Sandpoint attended the gathering. “We Shall Overcome” became the afternoon’s theme song and community members surrounded Boone with support.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with this kind of hatred,” Boone said. “Let me love that individual. I’m sure that he or she or it does not know me.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo