The Terrorist In Our Town

This story begins exactly one year ago. I was working at our agency's booth in the downtown mall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We normally do this to promote our work in the community, and honor Dr. King on his national holiday. The local festivities included the traditional march of citizens through town to commemorate Dr. King's legacy and his enormous contribution to the advancement of civil rights. I didn't march last year because I was working the booth during that time. My boss rushed in from the march and told us the parade was re-routed because a (suspected) bomb was left on the parade route.  No one knew the details at that moment so I didn't learn the real story until later in the day when I saw it on the local news.

Indeed there was a fully operational pipe bomb left in a backpack on a bench just feet from the parade route. As the news kept developing over the next days and weeks we learned that the bomb could have caused great damage, injuries, and deaths if it had detonated. The bomb's shrapnel was even coated with an anticoagulant to make it more lethal. It was discovered before is was detonated by some very alert city street workers who recognized the suspicious nature of the backpack and called the authorities. The police re-routed the parade and set about to safely remove the bomb. It was a huge local story and eventually became a national news story after MSNBC's Rachel Maddow picked it up as a significant event.

In March 2011 the FBI arrested the bomber in a nearby rural town just north of our city. The evidence that led to the bomber came from the bomb itself, and by tracing the purchase of the materials to make the bomb. It turned out to no one's surprise, that the bomber Kevin Harpham, was a white supremacist. Harpham was jailed and has remained behind bars ever since. About eleven months after the event Harpham plead guilty and was sentenced in U.S. Federal Court to 32 years in prison for Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and a Hate Crime: Placing a Bomb Targeting Minorities. He had no prior criminal record and had served in the U.S. Army.

Unfortunately this region  (the Inland Pacific Northwest) has a reputation as a hub of racism and white supremacists. Only a short time ago the Aryan Nations was headquartered in this region. The Southern Poverty Law Center came and sued them out of existence, but they could not change the hearts of some people who remained behind. The result was that our home town experienced terrorism in the name of racial hatred. The issue in this case isn't terrorism itself. Remember that terrorism isn't a movement, like the Bush people tried to tell us- it is a tactic that can be used by any movement. The idea is to produce fear (terror). The  real issue is racism. Harpham said he was trying to strike a blow for white separatists. He maintained the mantra of the racist, white separatists right up the time he was sentenced. He was a truly committed hate monger who would have killed or maimed many men, women and children to make his point.

Proudly, I can say that my community made a point this past Monday too. On the very next Martin Luther King Jr. Day this community came together to reject the terrorist in our town- to reject the racism and hate that rots in this man's heart and the hearts of many others. I was thrilled to be among the many thousands who turned out on a cold Monday morning to be inspired by Dr. King's message and walk past the same bench that held the murderous bomb one year ago. My wife had mentioned to me the week before that we needed to be there- this year most of all. She was right. We were also joined by our daughter and three of our grandchildren. It turned out that this MLK Day Celebration and march was the biggest ever. I have never had a better feeling about my town.

I believe this year's MLK event says two things. On a community level it says that we are trying to cast off the shackles of the reputation for racism, that still lives in this part of the country. It says we reject racism and we will stand together against it. There are still too many here and all over the country who harbor racial hatred. The FBI estimates there are over a thousand organized hate groups in America. Little by little we must end this by our example and our peaceful, but forceful rejection of their ways. It is both sad and disgusting to see would-be presidents still using the subtle language of racism in their quest for the highest office in the land. To hear Republican candidates talk this way is shameful. Racism is, indeed, alive and well. And secondly (on a personal level) this event says that we will not be intimidated or terrorized by a puny-brained, cowardly, racist bastard. This town will not belong to terrorists or racists!

I have long believed that our country cannot be destroyed by our enemies abroad. We are simply too rich and powerful still. Our military might is greater than most of our enemy's might put together. But I do believe we are vulnerable to our own internal weaknesses. Our greatest weakness is racism. It is an issue that has plagued our nation since its founding and we have not solved it. Even after more than two-hundred years and a civil war we are still vexed by racism. This singular issue can eventually be our undoing unless we honestly address it and somehow learn to how to resolve it. The key is a willingness to finally and universally admit our racial problem and make the commitment to change our national character. Thankfully I saw a glimmer of hope in my town last week. I shall hang on tightly to that small glimmer of hope.

Thanks for looking in.