PITTSBURGH _ Two points raised by us were of particular interest to the Pittsburgh audience.

We observed that the Aryans in 1973 did not move to Idaho from Southern California for our weather, fishing, hunting, the job market or our rural lifestyle. They moved here because they received cultural cues from us that suggested to the Aryans that we would welcome them with open arms.

They also believed that after receiving the "truth" as the Aryans asserted it, North Idahoans would gladly and willingly abandon basic American principles of freedom, equality, the rule of law and the dignity and value of each individual. The Aryans expected to replace these great political values with hatred, fear, racism and a new religion called Christian Identity.

The Aryan Congress just completed its annual convention in Potter County, Pa., and the citizens of Pittsburgh voiced their concern that the Aryans had similarly misunderstood the cultural message sent out by rural Pennsylvania.

We explained that the unanimous $6.3 million verdict by a 12-person jury of the Aryan Nation peers (in Kootenai County) immediately became an unmistakable cultural cue all by itself. It showed the Aryans and any other racist group looking for a new home that their views and attitudes would find no acceptance or growth in the Inland Northwest.

The Pittsburgh group came back several times to the extensive efforts of Kootenai County educators and others in North Idaho to teach about civil rights. Tony Stewart described the education experienced by many Kootenai County fifth-graders as they prepare for the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and a program put on by the fifth-graders themselves at North Idaho College.

Tony also reported on the region-wide teacher training that the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations has funded in recent years as well as grants for educational materials to be used in the classroom for civil rights education.

The rest of the week we will be in different parts of rural Pennsylvania. We are very interested in seeing if the warm reception that we received in Pittsburgh will be repeated elsewhere.