Tolerance advocates honored for anti-racism efforts in Flathead Valley

Travis McAdam, executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, said the Flathead Valley's white supremacist and anti-government movements have experienced an uptick in recent years by drawing nationally recognized members who actively recruit others to the region.

By cultivating a counter-network of community members who oppose the white-supremacist factions, McAdam said Love Lives Here has made significant headway toward the goal of creating a counterforce to the movement.

"The presence of extremist groups should not be representative of how people view the Flathead Valley because we all know that the vast majority of people living there have no interest in what the white supremacists are doing," McAdam said. "Love Lives Here has helped give that majority a voice."

Rabbi Allen Secher of the Bet Harim Jewish community is one of four Flathead Valley residents receiving the award on behalf of the movement. Secher said the group has made positive strides toward offsetting the influence of white supremacists and he intends to keep working toward that end.

"If the essence of your life is the quest for equality and human rights, then you keep going. You don't just stop because it's Tuesday. You ask, ‘What's next?' " Secher said. "I have no intention of stopping."

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Darryl Kistler, pastor of the Community Congregational Church in Kalispell and a founder of Love Lives Here, said the group is dedicated to promoting positive community growth in the face of negative influence by a small group of radicals searching for a platform here. Kistler said the actions and ideologies of the groups do not define the region, but the growing association has a toxic effect on the community.

"This is a real validation," Kistler said of the award. "It's a validation of the non-violent, communitywide effort to bring a positive retort to some of the extremist positions that have been taken around the valley with regard to race and religion."

Kistler's group has been especially concerned with an organization called Kalispell Pioneer Little Europe, which is devoted to encouraging white nationalists to move to the Flathead because of its high concentration of Caucasians. Members of the group post job openings and housing information on the white nationalist website, Stormfront.org, hoping to recruit others to move to the valley.

One of the most prominent members of the movement is Kalispell resident April Gaede, who uses her blogs and other Internet forums to promote "the immigration of racially conscious whites who want to leave multicultural areas (known as white flight) into NW Montana," according to the site.

And while Gaede has had some success in recruiting new residents, Secher and Kistler both said the level of overt activity has been subdued.

"The big Holocaust-denial group continues to show hate films at the Kalispell Library once a month, but other than that there has been no overt activity," Secher said. "And I'd sure like to keep it that way."

In addition to Secher and Kistler, those receiving the award are CJ Cummings and Ina Albert.

"Love Lives Here is making it clear to everyone that racism, anti-Semitism and hatred are not values shared by the vast majority of Flathead residents," McAdam said.