Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Lewiston welcomes refugees, Mayor doesn’t
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 12, 2012
Somali Bantu refugees in Maine have been adapting to what one former Lewiston mayor describes as the “whitest state in the nation.” Although the city’s community has been for the most part welcoming of the refugees, current Lewiston Mayor Bob McDonald claims the refugees have “cost the city a lot of money”, and “if you want to come in here…that’s fine…but…when you come here you accept OUR culture, and you leave your culture at the door” (this is the same genius — self-described as “tired and overly emotional” — who said that he wanted to make changes so that the city would be less attractive to layabouts and deadbeats, many of whom didn’t speak English).
It’s amazing how little the mayor understands what it was like for his first generation ancestors in America. A video at the BBC examines the refugee issue in Lewiston.
**UPDATE** — Mayor gets reaction to bigoted remarks
cory82 said
This is the kind of person who sits on his butt and takes his American citizenship for granted, all the while blaming our country’s newest immigrants. That’s real leadership for you.
diing78 said
if he were actually familiar with the refugee experience he would know that most refugees get busy as soon as possible working to support their families when they arrive here, rather than being layabouts and deadbeats.