Oregon Public Broadcasting

Barack Obama didn’t win a lot of votes in Idaho. The nation’s first African-American president-elect received just 36-percent support.

Idaho has been trying to shed its image as a haven for white supremacists. The issue hit home last week when a man in rural north Idaho hung a political sign that included a noose.

But as Doug Nadvornick reports from Coeur d’Alene, many Idahoans plan to embrace the new president.

Nearly a decade ago, north Idaho won national headlines. A group of white supremacist skinheads attacked a mother and her son outside the Aryan Nations Church. It was headquartered just north of Coeur d’Alene.

The Southern Poverty Law Center sued. Its leader, Morris Dees, spoke to reporters after winning a $6 million judgment against the church and its pastor Richard Butler.

Morris Dees: “For too long, the Aryan Nations compound in this county has been a haven for violent racists. And I hope that this jury verdict will put an end to that."

The judgment bankrupted the Aryan organization. Richard Butler lost the compound. The buildings were removed.

When he died four years later, it was as if a big cloud had lifted over the region. The man most responsible for giving north Idaho a reputation as a racist haven was gone.

But then came the 2008 election. Barack Obama won and a reporter from KXLY TV found a man who wasn’t happy about it.

KXLY reporter: “Even though Ken Germana lives in a very remote part of Bonner County, a sign he posted on his property a few weeks ago is getting a lot of attention. He says it’s a political statement. Others say it’s hateful.”

The sign said “Free Public Hanging.” It included a noose and it named Obama, Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Al Sharpton.

Germana told KXLY he was making a political statement, not a racial one.

Ken Germana: “I’m not running around with a sheet, with a sheet on my head with KKK on it.”

Local authorities brought in the U.S. Secret Service. It determined Germana was not a threat to the incoming president.

Still, it went against years of work by groups promoting tolerance and understanding.

Christine Holbert heads the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, a group formed to fight against racial bigotry in North Idaho.

Christine Holbert: “I was dismayed by the sign and disappointed that there were still people who the task force had not reached with our message that all people have a right to live without fear and intimidation.”

Germana’s gesture wasn’t unique to Idaho. Simulated hangings were reported in several regions around the country. 

The reaction in north Idaho to Germana was mixed. Some defended his rights to free speech, even as they condemned Germana’s statement.

Tony Stewart: “So here we sit with trying to protect two amendments to the Constitution: the First Amendment of free speech and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause.”

Tony Stewart is one of the co-founders of the human rights task force in Coeur d’Alene. For more than 20 years, he and his colleagues battled the Aryan Nations’ racist message. Stewart’s group preached racial tolerance in the region’s schools. Over the years, Stewart says he’s seen an evolution.

Tony Stewart: “I think the people in the whole Inland Northwest, maybe all the Pacific Northwest, may be more sensitized to this problem in some parts of the country because  they saw the consequences of the hate and the evil that comes from it.”

Stewart believes young people will be the leaders in carrying that message, young people like North Idaho College student John Mueller. He says he’s ready to accept a black president.

John Mueller: “We’re all Americans so it shouldn’t be a big deal. This is the land of opportunity. Anybody should be able to be president. I think it should be more based on the views rather than the color of someone’s skin.”

Still, one incident on a school bus in southern Idaho may indicate there’s a ways to go. News accounts said the children were chanting “Assassinate Obama.” It was an isolated incident. But it has human rights activists saying they’ll continue to be vigilant in their battle against bigotry.