Tolerance triumphs as racists attract few (and the "victims" don't show up either)

LEWISTON - Thousands of voices supporting diversity drowned out the small contingent of racists who came here Saturday to protest Maine's growing Somali population.

Shouting down intolerance and singing songs of solidarity, more than 4,500 people converged at the Bates College Merrill Gymnasium for the pro-diversity Many & One rally, organized to counter a neo-Nazi meeting held at the same time on the outskirts of the city.

In striking contrast, 32 supporters of the racist World Church of the Creator listened to a few mostly anti-Semitic lectures in a city-owned building just off Exit 13 on the Maine Turnpike. Jon Fox, head of the Illinois chapter of the group, spoke in place of the group's leader, Matthew Hale, who was arrested last week on charges of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Hale planned to give a speech titled "The Invasion of Maine by Somalis and How We Can End It."

Despite temperatures in the low 20s, 450 anti-racism protesters and racist sympathizers gathered outside the racist meeting. The dull roar of shouting seeped through the walls of the meeting hall.

About 230 state, local and federal police contolled crowds at both events, which resulted in only one arrest. Metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs were used at both sites. Streets were blocked and parking was prohibited in many areas. Picket signs, cameras, water bottles, gym bags and any items that could be used as weapons were banned.

The pro-diversity rally triumphed in volume, attendance and number of speakers. More than 20 people took to the podium at the 2 1/2-hour event, which had an overflow crowd. Maine's most prominent civil rights leaders and top politicos were there, including the congressional delegation and newly inaugurated Gov. John Baldacci.

"We come together as one in Maine when it comes to neighborliness, when it comes to tolerance, when it comes to respect for one another," Baldacci said. "This is not a haven for any hate group."

Thousands of people wore "Where's the mayor?" stickers, calling attention to the absence of Mayor Laurier Raymond, who is vacationing in Florida.

Hale set his sights on the whitest state in the nation in November, after Raymond asked Somalis to stop moving to this mostly Franco-American, Roman Catholic city of 36,000. Raymond said the city was "maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally."

More than 1,100 Somalis have moved to Lewiston from other U.S. cities since February 2001. They were attracted by cheaper housing, lower crime and more accessible public services. They are Muslims who escaped clan warfare that has devastated their East African country.

At the pro-diversity rally, one of the nation's most prominent Somali leaders, Omar Jamal, head of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in Minneapolis, noted the absence of the mayor and members of the city council. He also called for Raymond's resignation, which the Lewiston chapter of the Somali justice group repeated at a news conference after the rally.

"The mayor is in Florida playing golf today and his city is on fire," Jamal said. "I challenge you to do the right thing."

"We have handfuls of immigrants who are very fearful," he said. "Nobody is supposed to be fearful here."

The rally was organized by a coalition of 200 community leaders to oppose hatred and support the safety of all Lewiston residents.

"We've all come together to say whether you're gay or straight or whether you have this ability or disability, either you're this color, or that color or this relgion or that, we say this will be our community," said Mark Schlotterbeck, leader of the Many & One Coalition. The group organized the rally and quarter-mile procession to the Lewiston Memorial Armory that immediately followed.

Former Lewiston Mayor John Jenkins, the state's first African-American mayor and state senator, was master of ceremonies.

"This is a defining moment in history," said Jenkins, as people clapped and pumped their fists in the air.

Six children of different faiths quietly offered prayers, accompanied by a flutist from the Micmac tribe. Speaker after speaker stressed the importance of accepting people of all backgrounds.

"We will strive to ensure that all citizens regardless of race and ethnicity are guaranteed their God-given right," said Winston McGill, president of the Portland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Some speakers said that while white supremacists from out of town were a threat, Maine people also had to make sure to stamp out hate. The Rev. Bill Gordon, an openly gay pastor of Northern Lights Metropolitan Community Church in Vassalboro, got a standing ovation saying how discrimination of all kinds must stop.

"Discrimination and hatred are not something that has been imported from outside of this city and state and brought to us," Gordon said.

State Attorney General G. Steven Rowe targeted his criticism directly at the white supremacists.

"I have a message for these hate-mongers," he said. "You are wasting your time here."

The rally also included a reading of a letter from legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought one of his early fights in Lewiston in 1965.

"Somali immigrants, like any Americans, have the unalienable right to live anywhere in the United States that they choose," Ali wrote. "Moreover, they have the responsibility to raise their children in cities and villages that are clean and safe."

Donna Rowe, a child-care worker from Auburn, said she was pleasantly surprised by the turnout for the rally.

"I thought people were more apathetic," said Rowe, 49, who came with her 14-year-old daughter and husband Tom, who performed at the rally. "It says that people care more about their neighbors than you'd think."

Robert Rovener, a 41-year-old physician from Cumberland, came with his wife and their two pre-school age sons.

"We thought it would be good for our children to be exposed to this and to see what's it like for people to support human rights and equality," he said.

After the rally, thousands of participants marched a couple blocks from the auditorium to the Lewiston Armory. Spilling into the road, the group sang songs and signed the petitions calling for Raymond's resignation before the bitter cold caused the crowd to disperse.

Several miles away, in a city-owned building next to the Maine Army National Guard Armory, the neo-Nazi meeting at the center of the day's events was small and strangely subdued. Twenty-seven men and five women sat in metal folding chairs, listening attentively to three speakers lecture on the white race, which the speakers claimed is under attack.

About 20 of the spectators came with Jon Fox, delivered by Lewiston police in two vans that picked up the group members at Maine Turnpike Exit 12 in Auburn. The rest were supporters or observers who came on their own. A handful said they were from Maine, with the bulk of the group coming from other New England states.

Police set up 50 folding chairs, tied together in groups of five, so they could not be used as weapons. They also taped heavy cardboard over all of the room's windows, to protect the people inside from broken glass in case objects were thrown at the windows. The meeting went on uninterrupted, as protesters shouted outside.

Several speakers commented on the absence of Lewiston's mayor. "I'd like to thank Mayor Larry Raymond," said Rob Freeman, of Old Lyme, Conn. " I know he says he has two black grandchildren and says that he's not a racist, but that's fine. What he did challenged these people, and I hope he enjoys Florida."

The speakers criticized African immigrants, who they say receive unfair benefits from the government.

"These people are the enemy - make no mistake," said David Stearns of Portland, who is the church's Maine contact. "If they get a chance they will probably slit your throat. . . . These people are not bringing anything good into our community."

While the influx of Somali immigrants sparked the racist group's interests in Maine, the speakers said little about them Saturday. Far more time was spent discussing an international Jewish committee, which the speakers blamed for the rise of Christianity, all wars including World War I and World War II, and the birth of the Soviet Union.

"Bringing in the Somali immigrants was a Jewish plan of divide and conquer," he said. "That's why we are in here and there are demonstrators out there."

Fox said the World Church of the Creator is not based on hatred. "I don't teach my children to hate someone else because of their color, but to love themselves and their race," Fox said.

Fox outlined the tenets of his church, which he said is not based on worship of a deity. It is organized among four principals, which he said were "sound mind, sound body, sound society and sound environment."

The church encourages its members to live in small, single-race communities, and farm their own food. Fox said members are discouraged from abusing drugs, and even avoiding the use of prescription drugs, which he said "are handed out by Jewish doctors."

The racist meeting ended squarely at 3 p.m., when police interrupted Fox's speech and asked him to wind it up. Then the participants who came with Fox were spirited out of the room to a waiting van and were taken back to their cars without the counter- demonstrators' knowledge. Those who came to the meeting on their own waited inside the hall until the demonstration outside dispersed.

No direct effort was made to sign up members, but Stearns said the group now has a foothold in Maine.

"There is no stopping us, so don't bother trying," he said. "Do not get into my face and talk to me about diversity . . . we are not violent people until you get into our face."

Supporters, protesters and curious bystanders started gathering outside the racist meeting shortly after 10 a.m. By noon there were about 40 people, corraled behind concrete barriers along Goddard Road. Robert Hoyt, 30, of Portland, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct when he tried to block a racist supporter from attending the meeting.

Shortly after 1 p.m., as the meeting inside got under way, the crowd outside swelled to about 450 when a parade of anti-racism protesters marched down Goddard Road. Many carried signs and shouted "Death to Nazis." Some wore black hoods or scarves over their faces. Some banged on 5-gallon buckets as make-shift drums. A few took turns leading the crowd in shouting slogans over a portable loudspeaker.

The protesters represented several groups, including the NorthEastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists and the Progressive Labor Party. Most came from outside Maine. Some suggested that the pro-diversity rally was tainted because officials such as Attorney General G. Steven Rowe participated.

"We will not allow the fascist movement to grow in the U.S.," shouted Cathy Wells of Boston, a member of the Progressive Labor Party, over the loudspeaker.

Anti-racism protesters circled the speakers and repeated their chants. Police in riot gear stood in a solemn line along the armory building and across Goddard Road. Firefighters positioned themselves on a ladder truck, ready to turn a water hose on the crowd if a riot broke out.

It never did. Beneath the constant chanting and occasional shouts, heated but controlled conversations occurred spontaneously between people who sympathized with the World Church of the Creator and those who opposed the group.

Vanessa Williams, 25, of Lewiston told a handful of protesters that she and her friends have had several confrontations with Somalis. She said she's worried about Lewiston's future and the favoritism she feels Somalis are receiving as newcomers to Lewiston.

"Do you really want to dedicate your life to hate?" Vanessa Torres, 21, of Portland, asked Williams.

Williams defended her position and questioned the intentions of the anti-racism protesters. "It's OK to say death to certain people, but if we have a problem with the Somalis moving here, we're at fault," Williams said. "I thought these (anti-racism) people were here against hate, but that's all they're about."

Marc Cyr, 44, of Auburn observed from the sidelines, arms folded. When one protester confronted him about his views, Cyr said his main concern with Somalis coming to Lewiston was the financial impact to the community. Many Somalis have received various kinds of public assistance since arriving in Lewiston.

"When my grandparents came here, they worked. They didn't ask for handouts," Cyr said of his French-Canadian ancestors. The anti-racist protester, who declined to give his name, disputed Cyr's claim that Somalis came to Lewiston to take advantage of the welfare system.

Police informed the protesters when the racist meeting ended and asked them to disburse. Some protesters demanded proof that the neo-Nazis were gone. One man went with police to check the meeting room. He returned and verified that only a few reporters and photographers remained.

So they drag them to the Tolerance Museum, and when that doesn't work, they go to a tolerance concentration camp.

If I may jump in uninvited....I loved the 'Tolerance museum'. The tour guide talks about being tolerant, nonviolent, polite and respectful of all people and all of their cultures and practices, then goes outside and kicks somebody's butt smoking. I hit the floor laughing. My friend (a liberal) just looked confused.

South Park is a real thumb in the eye to politically correct society.

Well, Hale will be having his bail/detention hearing in Chicago today. It should be interesting, given that the courtroom for his initial appearance last week was filled with his followers giving the Nazi salute and yelling, "Rahowa."

No surprise that Hale and his slimeballs would show up anywhere they could stir things up, create chaos and recruit.

Quicker than you can say “freebie” there are about 1,500 Somalis in Lewiston and the city budget is maxed-out. Residents are facing a tax increase just to take care of their new Somali neighbors.

Then WHY oh WHY are the “resident’s” laying claim that they are their good NEIGHBORS???!!!

Maybe Lewiston needs to find a community with even better forced welfare benefits and advertise that community on that Atlanta radio station

This is totally mind boggling! I am sure Lewiston have homeless of their own. I know of at least one young mother who went to the shelter to get diapers for her baby. The Somali women got there first and cleaned out every last diaper on the shelf. Why didn’t Lewiston concentrate on their own homeless first!

The chief was from Minneapolis, Minn not from Lewiston.

That's even worse. What right has HE to call for the expulsion of the Mayor in Lewiston?!

If you've been to his website (I would only recommend it for the strong of stomach--and I'm not going to post a link), part of the stir Hale loves to create is to book a library (or other place) under the name of a member, then start screaming about his first amendment rights--with the ACLU lawsuit in hand--suing any municipality from denying them the right to spew on public property--and to cost that muncipality a ton of money providing them security.

Of course, the future of his group may be in jeopardy because of Hale's arrest for solicitation of murder. I just wondered if he enjoyed his first weekend in jail.

I think that we're seeing exactly what happens when they try to take care of their own. The mayor asks the Somali community to moderate their emigration, and is denouced as a 'racist'.

What do bet that - if the town decides to do away with the programs that attracted the Somalis there (or just runs out of money) - the town will be a 'racist town'.

Re: SouthPark episode

There was some really sick stuff in that episode, but it sure did get the point across...

My favorite part was when Chef was going to be sent to Tolerance Camp for calling Garrison a "sick queer".
Chef's response: "kiss my black ass". Just great.

That's the whole point.
Us poor Mainers are just being used by a bunch of nuts on both sides of the political spectrum.

What makes it bad is if you don't rally around the leftist/socialist/communist groups you a called a racist or racist sympathizer by useful idiots like I was by Chancellor Palpatine

What do bet that - if the town decides to do away with the programs that attracted the Somalis there (or just runs out of money) - the town will be a 'racist town'.

Exactly! And with so many of us around Maine finding out what is being forced down the throats of the Lewiston people and voicing our opinion on this, it won't be long before we ALL are called racists. And this couldn't be further from the truth!

People have to be a lot more cautious now since 9-11. It sure isn't the color of their skin I object to. It's the fact that they can't speak or learn English. They have no desire to conform to the American way of life. They aren't trying to "fit in." They take our welfare like it's a given. And the Chief did say "If we run out of room in Lewiston, we WILL spread out! To Bangor and Portland. We ARE here to STAY." A scary statement???

What makes it bad is if you don't rally around the leftist/socialist/communist groups you a called a racist or racist sympathizer by useful idiots like I was by Chancellor Palpatine

I think what it's coming down to: we are on the bad end of the stick now that we are Full Grown Americans.

It's a scary statement, if true.

What's more likely to happen is the few that have really tried to assimilate into the community will stay (and I'm sure there are a few...I like to think that most people are good). The rest will go where the benefits are - Portland and Bangor are doubtful. Bangor, certainly, is no more prosperous than Lewiston. I would look for a mass migration to Boston, or Hartford. Someplace with a solid welfare program.

I would look for a mass migration to Boston, or Hartford. Someplace with a solid welfare program.

Time will tell. I hope your right. Maine has enough problems without immigrants telling us what to do and/or where to stuff it. :(

Additionally....

It sure isn't the color of their skin I object to. It's the fact that they can't speak or learn English. They have no desire to conform to the American way of life. They aren't trying to "fit in."

You're not the only one that thinks this way. The state that I'm in has a huge inflow of Mexican immigrants. For the most part, they're great people. It's just the few rotten apples that stick out. For instance...I believe that in America, you speak English. Any group that refuses to learn the language isn't doing themselves (or their children) any favors.

I think that there are a lot more people out there that think the same way we do. They're just afraid to speak up, for fear of 'denouncement'.

The Somali's have been set up to fail by the welfare industry in Maine. There are few good jobs for anyone. The factories closed a long time ago.

They are stuck here because other states have gone down to only meeting federal standards for immigrant welfare, Maine is one of the few states left that exceeds it. Mass cut back a few months ago.

The Governor thinks if we have willing workers, companies will flock to the state. It doesn't dawn on him that the fiscal crisis the state is in and the highest tax structure in the country is actually driving away the few businesses that are left.

I know of at least one young mother who went to the shelter to get diapers for her baby. The Somali women got there first and cleaned out every last diaper on the shelf. Why didn’t Lewiston concentrate on their own homeless first!

At the risk of sounding a racist, it sounds to me that Lewiston was inundated with human locusts -- this group of Somalis create nothing and consume everything.

There are actually some really sick things in it--I'm not a regular viewer--but the episode centers around a teacher trying to get fired for being gay, so he can collect millions in a lawsuit. He does lewd things in the classroom, but when the kids tell their parents, the parents are outraged...that their kids are turning out to be bigots! So they drag them to the Tolerance Museum, and when that doesn't work, they go to a tolerance concentration camp. The teacher, meanwhile, wins the Tolerance museum's "Courageous Teacher of the Year" award when word gets out about the kids. He's upset, so he goes to the award ceremony in drag and says all kinds of outrageous things--only to receive applause, which frustrates him further.

Sounds like "The Producers."

The state that I'm in has a huge inflow of Mexican immigrants.

Well, up here in northern Maine, we have caravans coming here every harvest to do work that the locals refuse to. (I know, if the farmers paid more, then the Mexicans wouldn't have to come do this job, but that's another story). The Mexicans are super people. They speak English, cause no problems, do their work and go back home.

They have a home, they go back to their home, they don't come up here, squat on a piece of property and demand welfare. They work very hard, and go home.

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