Utah basketball team’s experience in Coeur d’Alene shows history of racism still ‘very much alive’ in North Idaho
The Utah team was staying at the Coeur d’Alene Resort after it was selected to play in the NCAA Tournament hosted by Gonzaga University. As team members walked from the hotel to a downtown restaurant, they were followed by a driver in a truck who was shouting racial slurs at them.
When they left dinner to return to their hotel, the driver and others who were recruited to harass the team followed them back to the hotel, revving their trucks’ engines and harassing them further, according to a police report.
Cecil Kelly III, a longtime resident of Coeur d’Alene, was not shocked by what happened, but he is saddened.
Kelly remembers in the 1960s there were agreements between the business community that “you would not rent a room to a Black person.”
“And you would not feed a Black man,” he said.
Was there any question of that? Idaho has people doing things like establishing white supremacist compounds. Even attempting to take over entire towns.
Yes, there is a question if open, explicit racist harassment is occurring in 2024.
Nobody thinks racism isn't dead, but brazen public racial epithets and physical threats are not something many expect or should expect 80 years after MLK and the civil rights movement.
People should be shocked, this should be reported on and everyone in Ohio and the US should be upset and up in arms that this is happening in their state, at the least.
To be surprised about this would mean not having noticed anything that occurred since Obama first started his campaign. It's the thing that specifically brought Trump and others into the fray.
That's just it. No one is shocked because this is completely normal. We could argue whether parts of Idaho are worse than parts of Ohio - which you seem to confuse for some reason - but no one with a passing familiarity with either is going to be surprised to hear that this happened quite openly in Coeur D'Alene, Wapakoneta, Piketon....
It's not some secret.
It's bad, definitely. And it should be reported. But if we're being honest about our neighbors, no one can be surprised.
The normality should be shocking.
Nobody said racism is a secret.
The proper response to a horrific event is horror, not cynicism.
Normal? Surprising? Yes
Ftfy. Anyone who isn't white and naive isn't surprised Idaho (the whitest place on Earth) has racism
Everyone knows racism happens every day, whatever race they are.
You're allowing the prevalence of racism to endorse its value.
That is defensive trauma. A hundred incidents of explicit racism and violence should shock everyone over hundred times.
It isn't "cool" to pretend racism isn't surprising in 2024, it's permissive.
Shock to racism after decades of mass incarceration, jim crow, and centuries of slavery is a symptom of naivete, apathy, or ignorance.
It isn't surprising because the US was founded on white supremacy. The only ppl shocked by it are those who's lives aren't effected by it. Half the time the ppl shocked by it are part of the problem
I kinda doubt white people are experiencing daily racism in Coeur d'Alene.
Why do you need people to feel surprised by something that's been happening their entire lives? I'd rather people show outrage and make racists garbage humans like the ones in this article afraid to live in society. Right now they're fucking flourishing.
If you don't expect racial epithets in Idaho, you know nothing about Idaho. The existence of Dr. King didn't erase racism forever.
It isn't "cool" to pretend racism isn't shocking, it's permissive.
Why do you think this has anything to do with coolness rather than just being aware that Idaho has this reputation already?
I mean you don't have to take my word for it-
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2022/08/11/hate-makes-a-comeback-in-idaho-this-time-with-political-support/
Do you think the Idaho Sun is just being "cool?"
This is not shocking. It happens all the time. Racial slurs and threats of violence shouldn't be accepted, but they are expected. I do agree that people should be upset.
Yes, this is shocking. Something happening "all the time" does not make it less shocking, it numbs the appropriate reactions of the audience.
The event is still shocking and horrifying
Any person of color living in East Washington absolutely knows about the level of racism there. Utah is a shit hole. There domestic terrorist Matt Shea, who wanted to start a new state in that area.
They're also the state that was anti-vax and was punishing medical staff for trying to save people. So you had situations where people were infected and flooded Spokane for care, since doctor & nurses were leaving.
The culture in Idaho is such a shame. It's a really beautiful state, especially up north (where most of the Nazis are).
Beautiful country, ugly people.
Is this a big problem in Utah specifically?
I remember the basketball player Donovan Mitchell seemed to take issue with this sort of stuff when he was in Utah.
Although Mormons can be assholes, there is very much a cultural part of Mormonism of being a nice person. Seriously, Mormons are the nicest people you will ever meet even if they support or do terribly evil things.