News from my home state

[mattlistener]

During my Christmas visit with my families in Maine, I learned from my step-father about the changes going on in Lewiston as a result of over 1,000 Somali immigrants moving there over the last two years (Lewiston pop: 36,000). He says it's caused a lot of discomfort since the city is 95% white and people aren't used to interacting with folks of other races. However the town has stepped up to the change and made an effort to offer a welcome reception to the new Somali community.

In the metro today, I read that on Saturday a Wyoming-based white supremacist group went to Lewiston to protest the immigrant "invasion". Dozens of them demonstrated opposite *OVER 300* counter-protesters chanting slogans such as "Bigots begone".

Meanwhile, *OVER 3,000* people attended a rival demonstration in support of the Somali immigrants, including the governor and both senators.

Maine rocks!

Comments

[laurens10.livejournal.com]

Ahh, how ironic! Folks temporarily immigrated to Maine from Wyoming to defame immigrants!

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

The group in question is the vile Church of the Creator, run by Matt Hale, who is currently in trouble with the law for apparently trying to hire someone to kill a judge who ruled against him.

I was very glad to see Lewiston step up to the plate like that.ú

[bitty.livejournal.com]

how much of this is an effect of being a college town? (just curious.)

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Bates is there. [checks website] Current enrollment is 1,700 students. Does being 5% student make you a college town? The couple times I've been to Lewiston it didn't seem much different from, say, Brunswick or Bath. So I'd guess not much. That the governor and both senators attended the rally suggests to me it's a larger-scale thing.