Hate Is My Neighbor

By Tom Alibrandi

Book Overview

During the early 1970s to the mid-1990s, white supremacists-under the umbrella of the Aryan Nation and Reverend Richard Butler, Minister of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian-sought to create an all-white homeland in north Idaho. Untold numbers of white nationalists, holocaust deniers, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, a far-right Christians gravitated from all over the US to Hayden Lake and Coeur d'Alene, and eastern Washington.Due to the clear dangers of this existential threat, a group of local citizens assembled a Task Force on Human Relations composed of Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Christians, Jews, freethinkers, blacks, whites, Asians, Native Americans, Hispanics, and others. In the face of murders, death threats, bombings, high-profile armed robberies, and extreme harassment, this group of courageous and steadfast ordinary people, under the direction of a Catholic Priest, Bill Wassmuth, rallied their community with their unwavering positive messages and nonviolent actions of saying no to bigotry and violence and yes to inclusion. As a result of educating the public, and aided by federal and state convictions against the white supremacists, the Task Force efforts were instrumental in causing the number of white supremacists in north Idaho to decline and forced the Aryan Nation into bankruptcy.Almost twenty years ago, Hate Is My Neighbor was published, which chronicled the struggle in north Idaho. As it has been said, prologue many times becomes the present. This seems to be evident today in the United States with the current rise of hate crimes, white supremacist activities, neo-Nazi demonstrations, and even denial of certain high-ranking government officials of such harmful and divisive activities and their resultant prospects. It is instructive for the reader to revisit and understand the tactics and methodology of this north Idaho human rights group of concerned citizens who peacefully and legally turned back the rise of hate groups in their midst. In doing so, they saved their community from further violent victimization at the hands of a small army of bigoted white supremacists.On the other hand, history is replete with grim and tragic lessons of doing nothing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1976274664
• ISBN13: 9781976274664
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The American Dream turned nightmare

"Hate Is My Neighbor" is a harrowing true story about ordinary Idahoans banding together to fight the Aryan Nations, a neo-Nazi sect which had established a toehold in the Couer d'Alene area. Authors Tom Alibrandi and Bill Wassmuth take you to the town meetings and the clandestine ones in graphic, at times stomach-turning detail. While the book is stunning in its revelations about the virulent hatred which can lie beneath the surface of an innocuous-seeming merchant or housewife, it shows that a brave citizenry can and did conquer it. For the present, at least. The book is written in an unusual style which takes you into the protagonists' minds (Bill Wassmuth being one of them), and this contributes to its spellbinding appeal. I could not stop reading, even at 2 am.

Expanded my world.

"Hate is My Neighbor" has taken its place on the list of books that have changed me. It read like a novel but the thought "This is TRUE!" was always disturbing the ease of my reading. I was pulled out of the comfort of the life I've chosen to feel some of the pain and frustration of victims of hate. Understanding that it was "history" and not "fiction" meant I couldn't shake the knowledge while I was reading it that this book would not end "happily ever after" for everyone involved. But it wouldn't let me sink into feelings of futility as it reinforced the belief that individuals and groups can make a difference in this world that contains too much hate and injustice as long as it contains ANY hate and injustice. An enlightening read for anyone!

Hate is My Neighbor

An extraordinary, but true account of combating hate and prejudice in Northern Idaho, that reads like a novel. I could not put it down! This is Wassmuth's own story of organizing a community against bigotry, and violence. His courage and commitment made him the target of an Aryan Nations bombing attack on his own home, but that did not stop him. He went on to found the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, and served as its executive director for 10 years.