NEZ PERCE, Idaho — The Nez Perce Tribe is speaking out for the first time since Democratic candidate for Idaho's House and member of the Nez Perce Tribe, Trish Carter-Goodheart, was told to "go back where you're from" by sitting state senator, Dan Foreman (R) - Viola.
The incident happened at a "Meet Your Candidates" forum held at VFW hall in Kendrick, Idaho on October 1. The forum was held to hear from legislative candidates for District 6.
In a statement posted on Facebook titled "We Are All From Here," the Nez Perce Tribe said:
On September 16, the Nez Perce Tribe, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit, the Latah County Human Rights Task Force, the Moscow Human Rights Commission, the Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation hosted a United Against Hate summit in Moscow. United Against Hate is an initiative launched by the Department of Justice focused on improving efforts to combat hate crimes and hate incidents through relationship building at the local level. Given the widespread support and engagement in this effort, the Nez Perce Tribe is extremely disheartened to hear that before leaving a candidate forum in Kendrick last Monday, a state senator publicly told a Nez Perce Tribal member running for the Idaho legislature to “go back to where [she] came from.”
The Nez Perce Tribe has called this area home for tens of thousands of years and has a bond with this land that is deep and unbreakable. As its first inhabitants, we welcomed the Lewis and Clark expedition to the area in 1805, witnessed the birth of Idaho a little over 130 years ago, and have demonstrated a substantial, diversifying impact on Idaho’s economy.
Given our history and presence in the region, it is difficult to interpret the recent incident as anything other than an attempt to racially divide people while diminishing the value of some relative to others. The Nez Perce Tribe refuses to tolerate this kind of hateful and divisive politics and we ask other elected leaders in this region to stand with us in pushing back against such offensive behavior.
The people of this region are amazing and diverse and deserve leadership that represents and respects us all. Working with and getting to know our neighbors is the most effective way to actively address and prevent ignorance from gaining a foothold in this region. Together we can make this region a home for everyone.
The alleged outbursts came after a question from the crowd about discrimination and legislation.
According to an account by Carter-Goodheart, she was responding to a comment by Rep. Brandon Mitchell (R) – Moscow saying discrimination doesn’t exist in Idaho and that it’s more about people’s perceptions and sensitivities.
“I basically just stood up, and I said, you know, just because this isn't your lived experience does not mean that discrimination and racism don't exist today," Carter-Goodheart said. "And these are, you know, very real experiences of so many Idahoans, and it's not an Idaho issue. It's a national and even global issue."
She then said before she could finish her sentence, Sen. Foreman shot up out of his seat and yelled, “I’m so tired of your liberal bull****. Go back to where you came from!”
Carter-Goodheart has not heard from Sen. Foreman since. Carter-Goodheart said she also has not heard from Republican leadership in Latah County.
She acknowledged and thanked Rep. Lori McCann (R) - Lewiston, candidate Kathy Dawes, and Moscow City Councilwoman Julia Parker for standing with her and supporting her Tuesday night.
The incident was confirmed by Rep. McCann, just as Carter-Goodheart described it.
KREM2's sister station in Boise reached out to ask Sen. Foreman about the alleged incident but did not get a response.
Dan Foreman posted two responses to the incident on his Facebook.
