This should not even need saying, but obviously, it does. So, for the record: To oppose police brutality is not to oppose police. No one with a brain stands against police when they do the dangerous and often-dirty job of safeguarding life and property. But no one with a conscience should stand for them when […]
racism
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Candlelight vigil in Lewiston Sunday
LEWISTON — There will be a candlelight vigil at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Bernard Lown Peace Bridge to express public support for the value of all lives. The event, which is supported by the L-A Interfaith Clergy Group, is being held to show support “specifically and especially” for African-American lives, according to […]
advertisement
Posted inLetters
S. Dresdner: ‘Jew’ is not a verb
Recently, a congregant had the following experience: Her heating system was down so she called in a technician. He was hard-working, competent and sociable. The technician commented on a menorah and other Jewish items that she had in the house. As he was finishing up, he casually mentioned that a particular business in town tried […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Leonard Pitts: The ’60s generation once changed the world; it can do it again
Last week, I spent a day at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where some students and I talked about protest. Des Moines is six hours up the road from Ferguson, Missouri, the St. Louis suburb where Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager, was shot to death by a police officer in August, prompting weeks of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Lewiston to host briefing on criminal sentencing disparities Thursday
LEWISTON — On Thursday, the Maine Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will convene a public briefing to gather information from government officials and others regarding sentencing disparities in Maine. The briefing will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber of City Hall. According to a press release from the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Standing against racism in Lewiston
LEWISTON — More than 75 people marched across Lewiston’s downtown neighborhood Saturday calling for an end to racism and a beginning to greater compassion. Dressed in matching black shirts — emblazoned with the words “Stand Against Racism” — the group carried signs while passers-by honked horns and waved. They did so despite a shower that […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Leonard Pitts: On race, meet dumb and dumberer
Oh, my Lord, where to begin? You already know what this column is about. You know even though we are barely three sentences in. You knew before you saw the headline. There are days in the opinion business when one story makes itself inevitable and unavoidable, one story sucks up all the air in the […]
Posted inOur View
Our View: The fight for tolerance must continue
We homo sapiens cannot control our race at birth. Genetic miracles, all. We are what we are. Or, as Broadway croons, “I am what I am, and what I am needs no excuses.” We certainly can and do make social and ethnic choices as we age, but our race does not change. Why, then, is […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Campaign for Blaine House revved up
FALMOUTH — Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud said if Republican Gov. Paul LePage — one of the congressman’s chief rivals in the 2014 gubernatorial race — told GOP donors recently that current Democratic President Barack Obama “hates white people,” it’s “unfortunate.” But the Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District was careful to say he didn’t know […]
Posted inLetters
K. Kuck: No evidence of racism
We are all deeply saddened and shocked by the untimely death of teenager Trayvon Martin during an unfortunate nighttime confrontation in the state of Florida. Following that tragic event and a “not guilty” verdict by a conscientious six-woman jury in George Zimmerman’s trial, this country descended into an orgy of protests, some of them violent, […]