Growing up in Lewiston, I was brought up with a strong oral tradition of stories told to me by my Franco-American family. Much of what was told to me were stories of religious persecution, prejudices based on language barriers, denial of employment and property ownership based on ethnicity.

I was told of how “”Yankee”” landowners did not want to sell land to the Catholic church in Sabattus, and that Irish Catholics turned French-speaking Catholics away when trying to attend Mass. City government denied employment to French-Canadians and Franco-Americans.

These are some of the few examples of the resistance to diversity that many immigrants had to face generations ago.

Well over 100 years later, Lewiston has faced another large immigration.

Somalis chose Lewiston because of the low crime rate and because it is a community with strong family values. They look differently then we do, they dress differently, many still are not fluent in our language, and they practice a different religion. Are these not the very reasons Franco-American Catholics suffered through hate and prejudice for so many years?

Please remember the Christian values we learned; that we are not qualified to judge others, only God is.

Remember the Golden Rule, “”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.””

If you did not like the way French speaking Catholics were treated when they immigrated here, then why are we essentially treating the Somalis the same?

It took a long time for Franco-Americans to break the barriers and adapt to a new culture. But look at all the positive contributions and influences we have had on this city. The Somalis, given the chance, will do the same.

Be aware that the World Church of the Creator is a group that hates French-Catholics as much as Somalis and Muslims, and that they prey on the weak-minded and uninformed.

The best thing to do is to become educated about this situation and stay away from their rally on Jan. 11. They will not get the attention they interpret as notoriety.

Rachel Rodrique, Lisbon