Bennett fights the good fight

Six years ago, community leaders in Coeur d’Alene envisioned a run-down building on Mullan Avenue near City Park becoming a hub for presentations, discussions and programs addressing racism, prejudice and human rights.

A $1 million donation was used to remodel the building, and the Human Rights Education Institute opened in December 2005 with the hope of becoming internationally known for education about the rights of all – and the dangers of discrimination.

A board of directors led the institute through its infancy, organizing programs and searching for a leader.

That leader started work Wednesday.

Best known as the president of North Idaho College from 1987 to 1997, Bob Bennett was seven years into retirement when he was approached about the job recently.

Bennett was drawn to the challenge of leading an organization that thrives on relationships with all segments of the community, from schools to law enforcement to businesses.

“You can’t be an educator for too long without getting involved in issues of how people get along,” he said. “It’s just inherently part of the job.”

Now, at age 70, Bennett takes over an organization supporters say has thrived in its early years but needs a permanent leader to get broad public support and promote its programs.

“I think we’re on the brink of greatness,” said Marshall Mend, a founding member of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, a sister organization. “Before, we had a board but we didn’t have a leader. Now we have a leader.”

Bennett is starting his new role after some recent flare-ups, including a small white supremacist demonstration in Spokane and a confrontation at a Hayden Lake beach involving people shouting racist remarks.

In March, a man claiming Aryan Nations ties interrupted a talk by NIC instructor Tony Stewart and attorney Norm Gissel, who were speaking at the institute about the fight against the Aryans. Three others stood outside the building handing out pro-Aryan literature.

Coeur d’Alene resident Gerald O’Brien and at least seven other Neo-nazi skinheads rallied outside the Spokane County Courthouse in June, claiming to be part of a “worldwide remembrance day” for the late David Eden Lane, who’s credited with coining the phrase: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

Three weeks later, police said two men claiming to have Aryan Nations ties reportedly screamed racial slurs and neo-Nazi mantras during an altercation with beach-goers at Hayden Lake, not far from the former Aryan headquarters of the late Richard Butler.

Last Wednesday, security at Silverwood Theme Park near Athol ordered a group of men with swastika tattoos in the park’s wave pool to cover the markings or leave, park spokeswoman Nancy DiGiammarco said. The men left the pool, covered their tattoos and were followed by security guards to the amusement park, where there were no reported incidents, DiGiammarco said.

Patrick Manz, an investigative researcher with the Seattle office of the Anti-Defamation League, said the same group of white supremacists that has been in the Inland Northwest is still here.

“They’re definitely trying to reorganize and move their headquarters back to Coeur d’Alene,” Manz said. “Don’t get me wrong – they’re still extremely small. Maybe four people, tops.”

The contact information on the Web site www.aryannations.org lists a Coeur d’Alene post office box.

“Yes, we’re back in our hometown,” a line below the address reads.

In response to such episodes, the institute’s role is that of a proactive teacher, Stewart said. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, of which Stewart is a founding member, addresses racist incidents one at a time and advocates for victims, he said.

“The task force is a SWAT team,” Stewart said. “We’re the ones that deal with hate crimes.”

That’s done through victim outreach and community awareness, he said.

“No undue publicity – but if these guys are doing stuff and harassing people, the community needs to know about it,” Mend said.

Both the task force and institute need to be proactive to combat racism, Stewart said, but the institute’s role is that of a long-term education center that can prevent prejudices from forming.

Bennett said he doesn’t have plans for specific programs for the institute. He plans to meet with each of the institute’s 10 board members to get ideas. Since it opened, the institute has hosted exhibits that have included family photographs taken by Anne Frank’s father, a collection of children’s art meant to convey the rights of children, and historical artifacts and personal accounts addressing immigration and ethnicity in Idaho.

Bennett does plan to start a fundraising campaign to raise awareness about the institute and give it the money needed to continue quality programs and expand its presence in the region, he said.

“Like anything, good programs cost money,” Bennett said.

His job comes down to two responsibilities, he said: implementing programs and finding the money to support them. That will involve lots of talking with community leaders. He plans to get on the speaking circuit, talking to any group willing to listen.

“One of my major responsibilities will be going out and telling the merits of the institution,” he said.

Bennett said he is eager to hear what people want from the organization, and he wants the community to see the institute as a refuge for discrimination victims and an education center for all.

“I’m hoping if people experience some kind of prejudice they’ll call us and let us know,” he said.

Is racism more of a problem in North Idaho than elsewhere? “Sometimes it’s very hard for a white male to understand whether it is or not” when living in a primarily Caucasian community, he said.

More attention can be paid to issues like that if the community rallies to support the institute and help it grow, he said.

More than 200 people applied for Bennett’s job, said Michelle Fink, board president. The search process took about two years and started over twice. The board picked Bennett because of his leadership skills and connection to the community, Fink said.

“I think that expertise will serve us well,” said board member Jerry Gee. “It’ll be real beneficial for the community to realize that we do continue to exist and we are moving forward.”

Bennett, the institute’s second executive director, served as NIC’s fifth president before being forced to resign by the NIC board. He was given $142,000 to leave a few months into a two-year contract, and his ouster prompted two board members to resign and protests from faculty and students.

On the job just a few hours, Bennett said Wednesday he has seen the potential for the region to rally around the institute. When he told a friend of his new job, “he was more interested in the importance of the institute than me working there, and that’s the impression I’ve heard from so many people,” he said. “I just hope I can make people aware of this place so that they’ll reach out to us.”

Reporter Meghann M. Cuniff can be reached