Hate must be contested

Mr. Vernon Baker witnessed the rise and fall of Adolf Hitler and the crash of the aerospace engineer Richard Girnt Butler who led the Aryan Nations for too many years.

On the eve of the 1994 Aryan Nations march on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, I called Mr. Baker to get his advice on whether we should stay away from the area or be a silent force of visible opposition to their message of hate.

Mr. Baker told me that he and Heidy had plans for the weekend and if that had not been the case, they would be there, front and center on the sidewalk. Mr. Baker told me that hate groups often wrap themselves in the flag for obvious appeal, and communities need to get involved and effectively organize with a mission of eliminating the threat. Ignoring them only emboldens them and pretending that they will just go away, it only feeds their fire of attempting to mainstream their message.

We took Mr. Baker’s advice and there was much visible opposition to the Aryan Nations message to the Coeur d’Alene community that day. Thank you, Mr. Baker, we hope to see you on the other side.

James Gordon Perkins

Colville