Responding to the plight of Abdi Iftin who is experiencing substantial backlash to his writing from “fellow” Mainers (“Taking a step back, but not giving up,” Dec. 3), I am now an official resident immigrant from Massachusetts where I was a professor for 42 years, but now officially retired in 2012 to Scarborough to be near part of my family that had moved to Maine earlier. I was born on Long Island, New York, and thus I probably am known for speaking loud and having my own strong opinions.

Many of the people I meet in my neighborhood and in my public interactions were not born in Maine either. There is, however, an element of cultural “inbreeding” I detect in Maine. I am pegged by true born-in-Mainers as someone from away. I have not noted the ugly attitudes that Iftin has reported in my neighborhood or among my UNE colleagues, but standing in lines to get my car registered or to vote I have heard the ugliest talk between nearby groups in line. For the most part I do not respond with my substantially different opinion in that type of setting.

However, being an evolutionary biologist I am happy to see that we have robust heterogeneity in our opinions and that, to a biologist, is thought to be healthy. That robust heterogeneity has perhaps led to our shooting ourselves in the foot in our latest national voting; however, I was personally proud that Maine voted net for Kamala Harris. I hope that Iftin will accept the heterogeneity of opinion he has experienced and that the norm is more on the accepting side despite the “radicals” who are in the tails of the normal curve and perhaps more verbose.

Joseph Kunkel
Scarborough