The neo-Nazi groups that call Maine home have got the state’s attention. Good.

Just a few weeks after the Press Herald reported on the rise of white-supremacist hate groups in Maine, one of them – the Nationalist Social Club, or NSC-131 – held a rally outside the State House in Augusta, its third in Maine in the last year.

The rally, as well as an effort by neo-Nazis to establish a whites-only community in Penobscot County, has left Mainers rightfully shocked – with a “deep and profound sense of unease,” as top Democrats in the Legislature put it Tuesday.

That sentiment has been echoed by people from across the political spectrum who have correctly said the hate groups are an affront to our values and a threat to our general peace. It is so far unclear exactly how Maine will respond to the public showings of hate and intimidation.

We should be unequivocal about the challenge in front of us. Addressing the rise of white-supremacist hate groups in Maine and around the country is no short-term task – and, in a country that values freedom of speech and assembly above all else, no easy one.

It has taken years for hate groups with racist ideologies to get to the point where they’re so comfortable spreading their views in public. It will take years of sustained effort to push them back from view.

Experts say changing demographics in the U.S. have helped propel the rise of white supremacy. As white Americans become less of a majority, some of them feel they are losing political power and control that should unquestionably be theirs.

That’s an awful way to see the world in a country where everyone is supposed to be treated equally. But it has gained a lot of traction. Donald Trump made reaching out to Americans driven by racial animus one of his priorities, and in return they became some of his biggest supporters. The “great replacement” theory, the belief that there is an effort underway to fill the country with people who are not white in order to reduce the power of white people, was once a fringe point of view; it is now an element of mainstream right-wing politics.

Indeed, it was an inflammatory headline from the conservative news site Maine Wire – “Maine Governor Wants to Resettle 75,000 Foreign-Born Migrants in Maine by 2029” – that in part prompted NSC-131 to hold its rally in Augusta. The headline came in response to Gov. Mills’ creation of an Office of New Mainers to help immigrants find their footing. But the number in the headline refers not to immigrants alone but to all the workers the state is estimated to need in coming years to ease workforce shortages.

The headline was intended to whip up anger and fear of nonwhite Mainers, and it worked.

How do we respond to this rising comfort with racist views? And to those who would use it to raise money and influence?

The first step is to speak out. In a country built on open debate, apathy is seen as acceptance. When hate comes to a community, allies on the other side need to come together to show clearly that it is not a majority opinion.

While experts discourage confronting hate groups directly – confrontation largely plays into their hands – they do suggest holding alternate events that show just how small and lonely these groups ultimately are.

We must also protect neighbors who are targets of hate groups. No one should be made to feel unsafe because of who they are or where they’re from.

Top Democrats last week said two recently passed laws give the state some tools to help protect Mainers. Others say they are looking at legislation to keep hate groups from intimidating others, or from training a militia here, as one hate group leader has said he hopes to do.

It’s a worthwhile debate to have. But legislators will likely find it difficult to crack down on hate groups without violating First Amendment rights; it’s not always clear where hateful ideas end and hateful actions start.

We’d be better off, both in marginalizing hate groups and upholding our own values, by building strong coalitions that say, with clarity and legitimacy, that we won’t tolerate hate. We need communities that unequivocally show immigrants and other minorities that they are part of the family.

We shouldn’t work to silence those with disagreeable opinions, but to persuade people that there’s a better way – better for all.

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