skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Groups Work to Counter Hate, Discrimination in Twin Falls

play audio
Play

Monday, October 2, 2017   

TWIN FALLS, Idaho – On Sunday, Adrienne Evans, executive director of United Vision for Idaho, addressed Twin Falls about what her coalition sees as a rising tide of hate and discrimination in the city.

Last week, The New York Times featured an article about a fake news story involving refugees and a juvenile sex crime that eventually became national news last year on sites such as Breitbart.

As the fabricated story spun out of control, hateful rhetoric toward refugees and Muslims grew, as well.

Evans maintains the source of hate is much deeper in Twin Falls, which has resettled about 2,500 refugees since the 1980s.

"You see people come out and express their concern that something's going to be taken away from them if rights are protected for refugees,” she states. “And I think that that is what has been bubbling beneath the surface of all of these other things that maybe make the front page."

Evans notes that Twin Falls has a very low unemployment rate, under 3 percent, and says refugees are part of the reason for that.

She says the presidential election last year emboldened hate groups and the escalating violence and racist behavior in the area prompted her coalition to provide anti-discrimination training this past weekend.

Evans points to the alt-right groups like the Proud Boys, who have armed themselves and intimidated community members. She say these groups may fear violence from refugees, but they're often the ones threatening violence.

"So, we focus on the story that came out in Twin Falls and say, 'Oh, you know, is there a threat happening from a refugee population?'” she states. “When in fact all of the evidence shows that the threat is actually coming from white populations targeting refugee communities."

Evans says the voices of hate in Twin Falls are few, but they are loud. She says she traveled to Twin Falls Sunday because the community is looking to stand up to discrimination, and that says a lot about the character of Idahoans.

"These instances will happen, but it is not the thing that defines us,” she stresses. “What defines us is our response to them."





get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021