Story Created:
Nov 5, 2007 at 9:20 PM CST
Story Updated:
Nov 6, 2007 at 8:55 AM CST
The term "melting pot" conjures thoughts of immigrants coming to America through Ellis Island in the 1800's. Immigrants continue to come to here, seeking the American dream: some legally, others not. Melting together different cultures can be a challenge:
Such is the situation in Storm Lake, Iowa...where community leaders are trying to solve this challenge: It is a situation that caught our attention...and the attention of the Ku Klux Klan.16 years ago this month, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, protesting the city's openness towards African-Americans. The klan's next Iowa rally may happen here....in Storm Lake..where the Hispanic population is exploding.
"They are invading the country." Ray Larsen is grand wizard of the Indiana-based "Church of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan". His group had planned a November 11th rally in Storm Lake; but it has been put on hold. 45 percent of the overall population are minorities:
In the schools, 75 percent of kindergarten through 4th grade students are minorities. Most of them, Hispanics."You can tell. You can tell when someone wants to be around you." Juan Valadez moved here seven years ago and says he was virtually ignored. Over the last couple of years, he tells me the community has become more tolerant, to the point where Valadez wants to permanently call this town home. "I feel more comfortable now."
Valadez is an American citizen. He tells me many Hispanics in Storm Lake are in the country illegally, which is why, according to Ray Larsen, the town is now on the Ku Klux Klan's radar. "They plan to take over and they're not going to change their language because their language is Spanish and they want this nation Spanish."
When news of a possible KKK rally first made it's way through town, some turned to Saint Mary's Catholic Church for guidance. Father William Vit heads up the church's hispanic outreach program. "When you have two cultures trying to get those two communities to become one lies the challenge."
It is a challenge that began in earnest 15 years ago, when Hispanics were first drawn to Storm Lake by jobs at the local meatpacking plant. Vit says the cultural "shock and awe" decreases with every year, but it will never fully go away, that it will always be a balancing act. "With a lot of risk you can either fail miserably or you can succeed wonderfully." Part of the risk in a multi-cultural community involves those who do not want things to change. Whether it be the Ku Klux Klan or even long time residents.
Although Juan Valadez feels more comfortable in Storm Lake now, his answer was telling when I asked him if he felt accepted or tolerated. "Tolerance. i think so." The Klan's planned rally is on hold due to scheduling difficulties; it may happen at a later date. Grand Wizard Ray Larsen tells me the Ku Klux Klan is the only real group standing up to what he calls the "Mexican invasion".
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