There is a certain naiveté about racism in New England—a belief that it just isn’t a big issue here. It’s a fallacy that continues to thrive and survive despite evidence to the contrary. The truth is that racism is as firmly entrenched in New England as it is in any other part of the country. Sure, it often looks different, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t run just as deep and pose just as much a threat. In fact, it is this denial of reality that in recent years has allowed white nationalist groups to find homes in the region—particularly in Northern New England, where in the past few years, groups such as NSC 131, Blood Tribe, and others have found homes.
Last year, Maine saw these groups become visible across the state, when white nationalist influencer Chris Pohlhaus opened a white nationalist training center in Northern Maine. Throughout the year, we saw white nationalist activity ranging from leafleting racially hateful messages to bold marches through Portland and other cities. It was alarming enough that our state lawmakers and others started to take notice. Enough alarms were raised and attention brought to the matter that Pohlhaus decided to pack up his training center and flee the state, though there has been chatter that he still has his tentacles in the local racist scene.
While much of last year’s public white nationalist activity has disappeared from sight, it would be a mistake to assume that these folks have gone away. Who do you think welcomed them and filled their ranks to begin with when they arrived? It wasn’t a whole bunch of people from the Southern United States or something.
The fact is that regional racists exist and have for a long time, and they more than happy to harass local folks. As was the case last December, when a South Portland DEI coordinator for the South Portland schools left his position and the state after receiving a heinous letter from a New Hampshire racist. Then in a weird twist, I wrote about the incident and afterward I—and the anti-racism organization I head up—were targeted by the same New Hampshire racist, who posted about me on an international white nationalists’ discussion board.
No, these people are here, and this is where structural and institutional support is needed to corral them and impede them. While we can’t legislate hearts and minds, we can create laws to make their lives of promoting oppression and bigotry just a little harder. To make openly blatant racism and its many variations uncomfortable or illegal.
Which is where LD 2130 comes in. LD 2130 was a bill presented by Rep. Laurie Osher (D-Orono) in response to Chris Pohlhaus’ establishment of a neo-Nazi paramilitary training camp. The bill bans paramilitary activity intended to create public disturbances or violence.
The bill passed April 4 in the Maine House of Representatives and is headed to the Maine Senate for final legislative approval. It passed in the House by a single vote, and that was before Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) went off the damn rails. In a video that has been circulating on social media, Libby is seen arguing that “It’s our duty to protect the Nazis’ right to free speech and association, as long as it does not infringe on someone else’s rights—as long as they are not harming someone else.” She also stated that she wanted to talk about the Nazis; she wanted to know what they did that was illegal or wrong or infringed on another person’s rights.
Obviously many online in Maine were disgusted by Libby’s words and were vocal in their disgust. It is easy to write her off as a racist kook, and after diving into her background, according to Wikipedia (by the way, why does she have a Wikipedia page but I don’t? I digress), she is an anti-vaxer and was anti-masking. To the point she was stripped of her House committee assignments over her refusal to comply with mask mandates in the House during the early years of the pandemic. Sadly, those two things tend to track with those who might find it unconscionable that we should do everything possible to shut down people with Nazi tendencies.
But the thing is that Libby is mostly a distraction—a circus act. The bigger issue is why did such an important bill pass by only one vote? According to local news reports, four Democrats and an Independent broke ranks to vote with the Republicans in opposing this bill. Not one Republican voted in support of this bill.
I have a feeling that on the surface, most of the people who opposed this bill would dare not think of themselves as racist or even Nazi sympathizers. Several probably have BIPOC friends and family and—despite the fact that 26 other states have enacted similar laws—I suspect that many felt this was overkill and treads on the rights of those neo-Nazi types.
What about the rights of the people terrorized by these groups? What about those who were walking in downtown Portland last spring and were heckled and harassed by these people? The local LGBTQ shops and groups that locked down their physical facilities out of fear? The anecdotal reports online of Black people being called the N-word that day? Do those people not have the right to walk around free from harassment? Not to mention free from the idea of camps designed to train racists to be more skillful in their violence.
Even more, if you think words and marches of intimidation are okay, what are your values? As elected officials, if you feel comfortable opposing legislation that curbs hate crimes and violent racism, what does that say about the constituents who elected you? In a state like Maine, are you dancing on the line of placating white grievances? Oh, you’re not “really racist” because you aren’t flagrantly throwing around the racial slurs, but deep down you aren’t comfortable with a racially, ethnically, and socially changing state, are you?.
Every single person who opposed this bill was voted into office; they did not magically come to populate the House. Are they there and passively or actively supporting racism because a large share of their constituency harbors racist views? Or are they acting on their own racist thoughts? Or both? None of those are attractive options.
Regardless, these are people who hold institutional power. How many of them are walking around harboring beliefs that are harmful to marginalized people? More importantly, how easy is it for these people to get into elected positions and make decisions that impact marginalized people adversely?
If nothing else, this vote is a reminder of just how much work remains to creating true racial equity. Sure, it passed but with only one vote to inch it across the success line, that is nothing to be happy about. It is a reminder that anti-racists need to do a lot more, including ensuring that when Black and brown people are elected to public office in a state like Maine, they feel supported enough that they don’t lose heart due to the bullseye that is placed on their backs as elected officials. We need more anti-racists in office, and we need education around race for all of our elected officials.
We need anti-racist media that counters the well-funded machinery of right-wing media. In Maine, we have a well-funded conservative rag that spews propaganda daily and makes it a habit to target elected officials of color along with other highly visible BIPOC folks. While we do have some left-leaning media, none of it to my knowledge is run by BIPOC folks and I know firsthand that my attempts to create a larger media platform run by BIPOC folks never could get off the ground due to funding. That lack of media representation along with firmly entrenched racist values means racism continues to be the status quo, whether we have neo-Nazis on the street or not.
If we accept half-assed token efforts as success or celebrate the passage of laws that barely make it (and not just because of party lines) without looking at the bigger and darker picture, we encourage more naiveté and we encourage mediocrity is addressing social ills. That is a weak and tepid sort of success at best, and it won’t get us anywhere good anytime soon.
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