Swastikas have popped up on public and private buildings - even on a marmot mural in downtown Spokane.

Fliers berating Jews, blacks and homosexuals have been distributed during Hoopfest, and in neighborhoods and high school parking lots.

A group of skinheads prowled downtown Spokane one weekend, nearly sparking a race riot.

Spokane has experienced a rash of racism, particularly anti-Semitism, this summer. Experts suspect it is a backlash from the community's response to the Aryan Nations march in Coeur d'Alene on July 18.

Vince Lemus, City Hall's race-relations specialist, decided earlier this week to compile a list of all the racist events he could remember since January.

The results shocked him so much he immediately started distributing the list to others to get their reaction - the head of the city Human Rights Commission, the local rabbi, the mayor.

"Each of these incidents is relatively minor," said Lemus. "But when you put them all together, you get a much different picture of Spokane than by looking at them individually."

No one knows for sure whether there has been an actual increase in race-related incidents. The Human Rights Commission tracks only complaints. The Police Department only records actual crimes.

But Rabbi Jacob Izakson said the staff at the Temple Beth Shalom noticed a trend long ago that held true this summer.

"Whenever something appears in the paper about diversity, or on television, we get an increase in calls from hatemongers," he said. "It's reactive."

Racists are like 2-year-olds, said Eric Ward, regional coordinator of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment.

"When a community comes out and says we won't tolerate this, (racists) respond by testing, to see if the community is serious about what it has said," Ward said.

Izakson attributes it to disillusionment among white supremacists, who assume people who live in the Northwest are tolerant, even sympathetic, to their beliefs.

"They are frustrated," he said. "They are being told `no."' The staff at the South Hill synagogue has a policy of documenting all anti-Semitic phone calls and vandalism and filing police reports.

Not all of the incidents become public knowledge. And the harassment never interferes with the operation of the synagogue.

That's because for many services, Temple Beth Shalom hires police officers to stand guard. The Jewish High Holy Days begin in two weeks, meaning the synagogue will be packed. Izakson said plans are in place to ensure worshippers' safety.

"We have to do what is responsible," Izakson said. "We can't allow them to scare us."

The rabbi adds that it's no different anywhere else in the country. Spokane's new police chief, Alan Chertok, agrees.

"I don't think we have a problem that is out of line with other cities our size," he said, adding that he will review the department's procedures for handling hate crimes.

Not everyone is so accepting.

Frank Cikutovich, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, believes Spokane and other Northwest cities can't afford to relax in the fight against racism.

Whether or not the number of incidents is increasing, he said city leaders need to send a clear message.

"I think more of a response, not less, is what's called for," Cikutovich said.

He is urging the City Council to pass a human rights ordinance that was tabled in early August, because of controversy over a clause that made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The city also needs to fund a human rights office with a paid staff, Cikutovich said. Lemus, who devotes one-third of his time to the commission, is the only paid employee.

Ultimately, Spokane residents themselves have to ask, "How much (hate) is too much?" said Bruce Kort, regional director of the Pacific Northwest Anti-Defamation League. "That's a deep philosophical question that only the community can answer."

Nationally, incidents of anti-Semitism are dropping, mainly because of vigilance from groups like the ADL, Kort said. So if such acts are rising in Spokane, that would be alarming.

Another frightening fact: Anti-Semitism seems to precede wider acts of hate crimes.

"Anti-Semitism is in some ways the oldest form of hatred in the world," he said. "People who commit acts against Jews are often willing to expand their hate and do the same to blacks, Hispanics and other people."

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