It’s hard to avoid the idea, when you think about the unrest and militarized response in Ferguson, Missouri, that local politics is colored by international events.

Considering how readily an African immigrant in Maine could be targeted as a terrorist suspect, what with U.S. military engagement all across Africa in the ongoing Global War on Terror, I’d say Maine people have proved themselves to be remarkably un-racist. People seem generally to treat people as people.

Let us remember that the core of racism is the belief that there is more than one human race.

I don’t too much mind some people making a living by claiming to help the “races” get along with each other.

I chafe a bit at the Rev. Kenneth Lewis’ comment in the Sept. 2 article “Improved racial relations an elusive goal in Maine” that “colored” is not good. But apparently, “people of color” is good.

What makes me angry is that U.S. national policy, out in the world, seems deliberately and overtly racist. If you don’t believe me, ask an Iraq or Afghanistan vet what a “hajji” is. Tell me what the “Pivot to the Pacific” means, if not that Washington has decided it’s time to take back China, which we, according to the slogans of the time, “lost” in 1949.

When racism is national policy, we need more than consultants and workshops to make sure it doesn’t take root at home.

Christopher C. Rushlau

Portland


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