Hate Is My Neighbor

"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.

"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!

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.