Dear HCN,


I just finished reading Rocky Barker's swell piece on the transformation of Idaho into a hate-free zone (HCN, 9/30/02: Idaho seeks a reputation - and a reality - free of hate). Before any comments ... time for a pop quiz:


Two months ago I was thrown out of a motel (the only one in town) because, and I quote, "We don't want your kind around here."


I am (choose one):


A) Black.


B) Jewish.


C) Iraqi.


D) A Black, Jewish Iraqi.


E) An environmentalist.


Ah, you are so perceptive; a card-carrying "E", that's me. Some of those cards I carry read:


A) The Nature Conservancy.


B) The Sierra Club.


C) The National Audubon Society.


Alas, I also am an unabashed (better make that "bashed") supporter of Earth First!, initially in the Redwood wars of California and for the past ten years with the successful Cove/Mallard campaign in scenic downtown central Idaho.


To add to my stigma, I am a transplanted New Yorker, born in scenic downtown Brooklyn (just like your beloved and amiable Ed Marston).


For the record, the owner of the motel had boasted to me the previous day (before she recognized my stripes) that she was, and again I quote, "of Christ."


Now, class, what conclusions can we draw from all this? I find myself at a loss for words (me?). But I do get these increasingly frequent urges to get into a wolf disguise and chain myself to the door of a church.





Robert (Uncle Ramon) Amon


Dixie, Idaho