COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — Groups gathered in Coeur d’Alene to show their support for the Utah Women’s Basketball team and speak out against racism.
Dixie Stensgar was part of one of those groups.
When Stensgar heard of the racial slurs that were said to the Utah women’s basketball team on March 21, she knew she wanted to take action.
“The outright racism that's kind of been building and people are comfortable with here in this town is not only appalling, but it's disgusting,” Stensgar said.
Stensgar is part of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Members of the Coeur d’Alene, Nez Perce and Kootenai Tribes came together in response to the racial slurs.
“We all just kind of got together, decided to march in solidarity, walk in solidarity with those young girls and let them know that we truly apologize,” Stensgar said.
The march was called "Shawls in Solidarity." Members say they wore shawls as a way to be visible in the community.
“I was very sad for the young ladies that had to experience that,” Jeanette Laster said.
Laster is the director of the Human Rights Education Institute in Coeur d’Alene, an organization that works to educate people around human rights issue.
“I was pretty confident that at some level, we would obtain video at some point," Laster said.
As for tribe members like Rachel Edward, she’s glad the new information came out.
“That’s what the goal of this is,” Edward said. “We can do more and more people can step up against racism.”
She’s happy police have corroborating evidence to back up the basketball team’s version of events.
“They have to face what is real, you can’t deny that didn’t happen when it did,” Edward said.
Edwards hopes it leads to further progress in the investigation.
The Coeur d’Alene Police Department said they will not be releasing the audio of the racial slurs at this time, as the investigation is still ongoing.
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