Exactly who ‘we’ are

I heard the mayor of Coeur d’Alene and other business and civic leaders on the news programs the other morning proclaiming, “That’s not who we are! We reject hate in the Lake City and all of North Idaho!”

Well, I’m going to have to call it out. Unfortunately, it’s exactly who “we” are. “We” only get upset and call out this abhorrent behavior when it begins to threaten tourism and the local economy. It’s about money, not morality. These public displays of bigotry and hatred have been clearly visible since the first term of Donald Trump. Drive through any neighborhood in Rathdrum, Athol, Hayden, Coeur d’Alene or Post Falls and you will see the Trump and Confederate flags waving right on front porches or stuck in the back rails of pickup truck boxes along with anti-Biden flags. I know business owners in Kootenai County that are racist. I know civic leaders that are racist. I know educators that are racist. I know law enforcement officers that are racist. This bigotry has been given license by Trump and is sadly manifesting itself before all to see.

Sorry, Coeur d’Alene, don’t say, “it’s not who we are,” when clearly, it is exactly who “we” are. Running out in front of a camera to declare otherwise just highlights the hypocrisy of it all. The problem is obvious and denial won’t make it go away. It’s a beautiful area. But Trumpism will ruin tourism. And “we” are going to find that out, the hardest way.

Geo Tveden

Otis Orchards

It’s the status quo

If Gonzaga and the Spokane region cannot host young women without exposing them to atrocities, perhaps they shouldn’t be permitted to do so until university boosters and business leaders in the region can guarantee a tolerant environment. These young women have suffered, yes, but too many of my acquaintances have been harassed on the streets because of their race or sexual preference or gender affiliation for me to believe this is an anomaly. It is in fact the status quo.

Until the business communities feel the pain of the intolerance they treat now as benign in their bottom line, it will continue. And the only way for that to occur is for organizations like the NCAA to refuse to permit this region to host events until the business community loses enough money that they are forced to act morally rather than simply spout platitudes they forget as soon as they cease to affect their profits.

If we take such complaints seriously, we cannot dine in a place’s restaurants and enjoy its luxuries and pass our money onto its businesses and at the same time complain when those same communities, who claim to be horrified by prejudice, serve patrons and participate in a business community that not only tolerates such attitudes, but votes for leaders who profess such ideas and funds PACs that support them in the political arena.

Bruce Holbert

Blanchard, Idaho

The sweetest soul

Sol Bagby was found in the river, news media reports (“Body recovered from Spokane River was of man who jumped into river,” March 27).

But he is so much more than that.

He is my cousin, the sweetest soul and also mischievous. Always game for lizard encounters and scary stories. He loved Bob Marley and Stravinsky.

In his teen years he would join me, without complaint, for hikes even in the worst weather, and camped with me on family reunions where everyone else got a real bed.

He also struggled in this world. I would ask him questions, but he couldn’t express his feelings to me or anyone. I wish he could have. I wish I would have said addiction is an illness like cancer. I wish I could have saved him, but he had his own path and there were places I could not follow.

I like to think of child Sol walking on his tiptoes, as he often did, with a bounce in his step as if almost floating. Now his toes have finally left this earth.

When I learned that he was really gone, I was listening to George Michael’s song “Freedom.” “You don’t belong to me and I don’t belong to you. Freedom.”

We humans don’t belong to anyone. We cannot change or keep anyone. We have to let our loved ones go where they may go. This is Sol’s gift to us, a reminder to hold one another close. The gift we give Sol is his freedom. Fly Sol, and be free.

Cali Bagby

Eastsound, Washington