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Somalis Accuse Lewiston Mayor of Racism, Bigotry in Open Letter
Kennebec Journal ^ | October 8, 2002 | Kelly Bouchard

Posted on 10/08/2002 7:21:09 AM PDT by Tancred

LEWISTON — Leaders of the city's fledgling Somali community called Mayor Laurier Raymond a racist and a bigot for asking Somalis to stop moving to Lewiston from other parts of the United States.

During a press conference Monday, Somali leaders called on Raymond to apologize and to retract a letter he wrote last week asking the estimated 1,060 Somalis who have moved to Lewiston since February 2001 to give the city some "breathing room."

In an open letter of their own, Somali leaders described Raymond as an "ill-informed leader who is bent towards bigotry." They criticized him for failing to meet with them before writing his letter.

They said Raymond would be to blame if some residents in this mostly French-Catholic city saw his letter as license to attack Somalis. They asked police and state officials to guarantee their continued safety as residents of the city.

Standing in a drizzling rain outside a Somali community office on Lisbon Street, a few doors from the city's first Islamic mosque, Somali leaders invited Raymond to meet with them soon to learn more about the people he wants to turn away.

"He is a racist," said Mohamed Dirye, 52, a Somali who moved to Lewiston from Atlanta last December. "The way he is speaking, he thinks he's mayor for only white residents. He's not only their mayor. He's our mayor, too."

Somali leaders said they cannot tell Somalis to stop moving to Lewiston, especially when many of them are family members and friends looking for a better life, and most of them are legal residents or U.S. citizens free to live where they want. Many Somalis are former refugees who fled the clan warfare that has plagued their country for decades.

"We are proud to claim that we are fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers of citizens of this city of Lewiston," said Adam Mostafa, 35, who moved to Lewiston in July from Indianapolis with his wife and eight children. "It means this is home."

Raymond did not return telephone calls to his law office or his home on Monday. In an interview last Friday, Raymond said his letter speaks for itself and represents the view of many Lewiston residents.

"This large number of new arrivals cannot continue without negative results for all. The Somali community must exercise some discipline and reduce the stress on our limited finances and our generosity," Raymond wrote. "We will continue to accommodate the present (Somali) residents as best we can ... Our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally."

Police Chief William Welch said Monday that Somalis will be afforded the same police protection as all other Lewiston residents. He said there have been no reports of attacks or threats made against Somalis since the mayor issued his letter.

"We cannot guarantee them any more than anybody else," Welch said. "If they have issues, we're going to address them."

Welch said he didn't believe Raymond intended to "agitate and incite the local people," as the Somali letter suggests. "I think (Raymond) said what he thought," Welch said. "I'm sure it was agitating to some, and I'm sure there are some Lewiston residents who agree with the mayor. I also have a lot of faith in the people of this community to deal with his letter appropriately."

Some Lewiston residents at Monday's press conference said they welcomed Somalis to the community and denounced the mayor for increasing tensions between newcomers and longtime residents.

"Many of us say, 'Bring your friends. Build your community together,' " said Mark Schlotterbeck, city missionary at Calvary United Methodist Church. "We are all children of the same Creator. Let us share our resources."

Schlotterbeck invited the public to join church members in welcoming Somalis to Lewiston with a "friendship walk" on Sunday starting at 8:45 a.m. from the church on Sabattus Street to the mosque on Lisbon Street.

Somali leaders questioned why Raymond failed to acknowledge the contributions Somalis have made to the city and the federal funding Lewiston has received to help provide social services and educational programs for new immigrants.

While the city's general assistance budget has more than doubled to $528,000 over the last year, about half of the estimated 412 Somali adults living in Lewiston are working. Others are taking college courses or language classes. Three Somali-owned stores have opened in less than a year. Many Somalis live in downtown apartments that once were vacant.

"Our presence has turned Lewiston into a multi-ethnic, multi-racial city, which has embraced diversity and change," Somali elders wrote in their letter. "A city of 36,000 people, in the middle of the whitest state in the country, has suddenly become an international city."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: immigration; lewiston; multiculturalism; somalis
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We already have a lot of poor people in Maine, and the mayor would have said the same thing if they were white. Can any community accept thousands of new poor residents all at once?
1 posted on 10/08/2002 7:21:10 AM PDT by Tancred
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2 posted on 10/08/2002 7:23:49 AM PDT by William McKinley
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3 posted on 10/08/2002 7:25:34 AM PDT by mhking
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To: Tancred
"Our presence has turned Lewiston into a multi-ethnic, multi-racial city, which has embraced diversity and change," ****

In other words, they trashed the town and are bankrupting it.

4 posted on 10/08/2002 7:29:03 AM PDT by Lion Den Dan
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To: Tancred
Wow. About of half of them are gainfully employed.

I guess it's true: immigrants take the welfare checks that native-born Americans just aren't willing to take.

I'm glad to see that this alleged Christian is apparently making no attempt to wean them from the worship of the demon known as Allah.

5 posted on 10/08/2002 7:37:03 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: Lion Den Dan
The only thing is that the white liberals trashed and bankrupted the town before the Somalis even arrived.
6 posted on 10/08/2002 8:06:54 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: Tancred
"Many Somalis are former refugees who fled the clan warfare that has plagued their country for decades." What this means is that these Somalis jumped ahead to the beginning of the line without any means of investigating their claims.
""Many of us say, 'Bring your friends. Build your community together,' " said Mark Schlotterbeck, city missionary at Calvary United Methodist Church. "We are all children of the same Creator. Let us share our resources." Has this dimwit verified this "we are the children" crap with his Somali puppet masters? Have they all assured him that they don't want to torch his body and drag the carcass through the streets of Lewiston?
Sure, the majority of these Somali are PROBABLY peace-loving individuals but where does it say we have to play host to masses of unemployable drains on the public coffers? Where does it say we have to cede the character of our communities to any group that wishes to change it? Federal money is TAXPAYER money. This is nuts, plain nuts!
7 posted on 10/08/2002 8:15:15 AM PDT by thegreatbeast
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To: Tancred
Maine is the second poorest state in the nation, following Mississippi. Guess they're overtaking Mississippi now, thanks to unlimited numbers of third-world welfare suckees. And if you speak against it, you're a "SCREECH! RACIST!"
8 posted on 10/08/2002 8:18:00 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: Tancred
Two thoughts:

1) My...for immigrants, these Somalis sure found all of the right "guilt buttons" pretty quickly. They are playing the fools in Maine like a violin. Try moving anywhere in the third world and pulling this garbage....see what happens.

2) Ideas have consequences. Looks like the Yankees up in Maine are finally going to have to practice what they've spent the better part of 2 centuries preaching.

9 posted on 10/08/2002 8:19:11 AM PDT by quebecois
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To: Tancred
States and cities really have nothing to use to hinder these type moves. Obviously, there is a problem and somebody from the state government needs to figure how to settle this quietly. Not to be too racist...but I doubt that there were not too many blacks in this town to start with....and the locals probably are used to things staying the same.
10 posted on 10/08/2002 8:25:06 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: Tancred
Doesn't take immigrants long to learn how to cry victimhood, does it?
11 posted on 10/08/2002 8:29:11 AM PDT by CaptRon
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To: Lion Den Dan
I love this. I'm trying to remember when the word diversity took on such lofty meaning.
12 posted on 10/08/2002 8:32:22 AM PDT by CaptRon
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To: pepsionice
Not to be too racist...but I doubt that there were not too many blacks in this town to start with....and the locals probably are used to things staying the same.

There are very few non-white persons in Maine compared to all the other states (I know because I live here and because I've done a lot of research with Census data for my classes). But I believe it's not about race; rather, it's about culture. You can't have a lot of people moving into town who go about building mosques, needing translators, having eight kids, and collecting welfare. If these were American blacks (that is, descendants of "involuntary immigrants"), rather than Somali refugees (who don't share a common culture & who require a lot of support), there would not be such a problem.

13 posted on 10/08/2002 8:34:27 AM PDT by Tancred
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To: Tancred
Many Somalis are former refugees who fled the clan warfare that has plagued their country for decades. ...

... "Many of us say, 'Bring your friends. Build your community together,' " said Mark Schlotterbeck, city missionary at Calvary United Methodist Church. "We are all children of the same Creator. Let us share our resources."

Oh, have you folks got a nasty surprise coming.

14 posted on 10/08/2002 10:08:12 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: Tancred
Why are we importing these arrogant pests who are famous for leeching off the welfare system? Once more:

They are refugees so they get a lot more welfare and benefits as soon as they step foot on our shores. They get the bennies no questions asked.
15 posted on 10/08/2002 5:25:34 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: wideawake
Wow. About of half of them are gainfully employed.
__________________

Don't believe it. It's less than half. A former mill town like Lewiston isn't brimming over with unfilled jobs.
16 posted on 10/08/2002 5:28:49 PM PDT by dennisw
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To: pabianice
"Maine is the second poorest state in the nation, following Mississippi. Guess they're overtaking Mississippi now, thanks to unlimited numbers of third-world welfare suckees. And if you speak against it, you're a "SCREECH! RACIST!"

Now you understand the problems in Mississippi.

17 posted on 10/08/2002 5:31:03 PM PDT by blam
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To: mhking
I suppose it is bigotry. There's no way I (and probably you) would want over 1000 Somalians immigrants moving into my/your community in less than 2 years. Watch "Blackhawk Down". To call Somalians primitive is being upbeat. And this bunch is pushy and demanding.

Further bigotry would be my abject refusal to live in a town suddenly being overrun by white Berkeley Marxists. Wait, though, if the Somalians could be given moving fees to the Berkeley, Stanford areas around San Francisco, CA, or maybe even settled in the Sausilito area - perfect, both groups were made for each other! The white Marxists would HAVE to love the Somalian immigrants, their *philosophy* allows no other reaction.
18 posted on 10/08/2002 7:54:17 PM PDT by xJones
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To: Tancred
about half of the estimated 412 Somali adults living in Lewiston are working

Why would any community want a group of people who have a 50% welfare rate? Why are they even in the US if they can't work?

19 posted on 10/08/2002 8:20:59 PM PDT by FITZ
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Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


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