SANDPOINT — Once marginalized views on white supremacy have crept into the mainstream, according to the Montana Human Rights Network.

“The lines are a lot more fuzzy and the boxes aren’t that simple,” Rachel Carroll Rivas of the Montana Human Rights Network said during a presentation at the Sandpoint Lutheran Church on Tuesday.

The presentation centered on groups which have sought to sand off the sharp corners of their ideology by churching up their names while still sounding dog whistles of their racist beliefs.

Exhibit A in the shell game is Identity Evropa, a Neo-Nazi/white supremacy group which rebranded as the American Identity Movement to soften its image to the public.

But the message of the group remains the same.

Carroll Rivas appeared to be preaching to the choir during the presentation due to the familiar faces in Bonner County’s own human rights network. However, some took umbrage to patriot groups getting tarred with the racism brush.

“There’s nothing wrong with the patriot movement,” said Sagle resident Debbie Connor, who disputed aspersions that such movements were paranoid or anti-American.

Carroll Rivas admitted during the presentation that she did not adhere to the emerging trend of declining to discuss politics over dinner. Carroll Rivas advocated for open, honest discussion by refraining from personalizing political views and building power at the ballot box.

When confronted with claims that the Holocaust did not exist, Carroll Rivas said veterans who uncovered the death camps served as the best witnesses.

“Veterans can be trusted messengers of what they saw,” Carroll Rivas said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.