Confederate Statues Anything but Enlightening

I write this in answer to Mr. Crimmins’ column on Wednesday, Aug. 23. I can’t believe that Mr. Crimmons is unaware of what the Civil War meant to African-Americans and what the Confederate statues mean to them as well. Confederate statues are not there to “enlighten all of us.” They are there as symbols of racist beliefs. They are there to remind many people of their distorted ideas about African-Americans and an imagined lost Southern way of life. Come on, Mr. Crimmons, these statues do not in any meaningful and helpful way “shed light on what has been done in the past.” And, what do you mean when you say that ‘real heroes can keep their feet on the ground (and) be anywhere that you look.” You equate the Challenger astronauts and the responders to 9/11 with Confederate generals!

Unfortunately, Mr. Crimmins column is typical of what we get from Republicans. Opinions that are ill thought out and thus ill-expressed. If you want to get a thoughtful and strongly worded explanation for why we should remove these statues, find a transcript of the speech given by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Mr. Crimmins you helped your sons learn about history maybe Mr. Landrieu can help you do the same.

Brian Hirst,
Harpswell

Honoring Maine’s True Indigenous People

As a non native, I am deeply grateful to Gary Anderson for his piece in Thursday’s Times Record: “The Inconvenient Truth of Maine’s Racism.”

I was expecting to read of prejudice and racism towards “others” who visit our state as tourists or who move here from “ away.” There is that.

But I was pleased, impressed and grateful to Anderson for the history lesson he shared with his readers on the true nature of racism, oppression, and subjugation imposed on Maine’s true native people, Native American’s who have lived on this land for thousands of years.

From the earliest days of colonialism where people of the Wabanaki were forced from their land and resources, their culture decimated, their children placed in schools that taught “ white ways” and language, to the present time when actions from Maine’s attorney general ruled that the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act would no longer be honored and, as Anderson tells us, the State’s recent claim to authority over the waters of the Penobscot River, waters that the Penobscot Nation have fished for centuries, nourishing both their body and spirit, the pattern of racism continues.

Midcoast Indigenous Awareness Group, MIAG, was formed this year to raise awareness and provide education about the true history of native people in Maine and celebrate the rich culture, resilience and endurance of the Wabanaki nation. We have and continue to offer and sponsor films, music, and history by and about native people in our communities. We join with dozens of towns, cities and States across the country who have been successful in asking their local officials to replace the Columbus Day Holiday with “Indigenous People’s Day”, celebrated on the second Monday in October.

On Monday, Sept. 18 we will be asking the Brunswick Town Council to adopt a “Resolution to Acknowledge Maine’s Indigenous Cultures”.

By doing so Brunswick will be taking an important step towards acknowledging racism aimed at native people but, as importantly, honoring and celebrating Maine’s true indigenous people.

Mary Heath,
Brunswick