Racism flaring, Northwest fights back

So-called "covenant communities" with ties to an anti-Semitic and racist theology called "Christian Identity" exist here, as do skinheads and Holocaust deniers.

"But the good side of the independent spirit phenomenon is you also had people who organized spontaneously and locally" to oppose organized bigots, says Mr. Levin. "Also, local law-enforcement agencies were active early on in responding to hate crimes."

When the Aryan Nations began holding marches and rallies in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, attracting neo-Nazis from around the country, local citizens formed the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force to peacefully confront them. When skinheads attacked African American students at Western Washington University in Bellingham, churches and a local human rights group organized "Not In Our Town" events.

Such events, which have occurred elsewhere in the region in recent years, are patterned after a 1993 episode in Billings, Mont., when thousands of community members demonstrated their opposition to racist and anti-Semitic threats there.

The Hate Crimes Research Network at Portland State University and the Gonzaga Institute for Action Against Hate at Gonzaga University in Spokane provide some of the best research in the country.

While much of his force opposes it, Portland police chief Derrick Foxworth supports the investigation and possible inquest of recent police shootings. "We are at a defining moment in this organization," says Chief Foxworth, who is black.

One of the first to visit Pastor Martin after the cross burning last month was Washington State's Chinese-American Governor Gary Locke. An outpouring of community support for the Martin family followed, particularly notable since only 1 percent of the community is black. Everybody from the judge to the school superintendent to one of the perpetrator's fathers (who refused to put up bail) seemed to see it as a teachable moment.

All in all, says professor Levin of the region's history, "It's really an inspiring picture as well as one that's had some bumps in the road."

And inspiration is what Jason Martin has come to feel when sharing lessons learned from his recent experience.

Sitting on the steps in front of his pulpit at the "Jesus Is Lord Life Tabernacle" in this community an hour north of Seattle, he reflects on the path that brought him to a town where only 63 of the 5,306 public school students are black.

After eight years as a US Navy radioman, he was "called to the ministry" 13 years ago. Those first few years were rough, and for a period Martin, his wife Charmaine, and their seven children were on welfare while he built his "in-the-trenches type of ministry." He recalls being told, "You'll never start a multicultural church here.... It's too white."

Today his Pentecostal congregation in a storefront church numbers 150, and it includes whites, blacks, Hispanics, and native Americans from the nearby Tulalip Indian Reservation. "It's really a miracle," he says.

As for the cross-burning, it was initially shocking, but he quickly saw it as "an opportunity to set an example for my family and my faith community." Remembering his own less-than-perfect past, he says "Mercy was shown to me and I want to show mercy and grace to others."

He quickly forgave the 16-year-old cousins who confessed to the crime of malicious harassment. "I'd really like to help these guys anyway I can," he says.

"If somebody does something wrong to you, send them flowers," he has said many times since he looked out his window and saw the religious symbol he cherishes aflame and meant to frighten. "It says in the Bible the way to conquer evil is to do good. We have to put that into practice."

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