Hate Is My Neighbor

by Tom Alibrandi, Bill Wassmuth

Hate Is My Neighbor is the true story of a community’s response to hate. When the Aryan Nations moved its headquarters to Hayden Lake in North Idaho in the late 1970's, the people of Coeur d'Alene and the surrounding area were faced with blatant racism in its midst. This book tells the story of how a community came together around several leaders to stand strong against bigotry and counter the hate that had become its neighbor.

Genres: Nonfiction

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty quick and easy, told in a very easy to follow narrative with pretty memorable characters. While the Aryan Nation may not be as much of a problem today, the cornerstone of their ideology is. This idea of western (white, Christian in actuality) exceptionalism is the foundation of modern right-wing rhetoric. It’s present especially in organizations like the KCRCC, so while yes, progress has been made in fighting hate, I think this book highlights how much there is to be done.

[Tammy Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a must tell...I took particular interest as an Idahoan, and extreme interest as an American, especially in our current political environment. The importance of the story gets a "5" from me...just downgraded it a bit for the quality of the story telling.
I can't over rate the remarkable strength of character of the real life heroes in the story...those who relentlessly countered RELENTLESS violent, insidious racism and antisemitism in the Northwest. Thank God for them, and thank God they didn't give up. Bill Wassmuth is an American hero.

[Mark T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about Deja-vu. This is a compelling true story about a good community beating modern day Nazis in rural Idaho over 25 years ago. They showed again in Virginia in 2018 and in our capital in January '21. Good barely won....at a huge cost.

Here we are again in 2025. Will it end like before? The lesson is in unity.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it was published over 20 years ago, this book is particularly timely right now (unfortunately). Surprisingly easy to read (I read it in 2 days) it flows almost like seeing a movie.

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very rarely put a book down after I've started it, but this one was too grueling and contrived to believe. Not the subject matter, per se, but the way it was put together in the book seemed to assume that the reader was an idiot. Using a conversation between a lawyer and a police officer (the officer supposedly was uninformed) to explain who Rosa Parks was? Not likely to have been necessary, and it certainly wasn't necessary here, either.