Some people are upset that the new park at the end of Longley Bridge is named after former Mayor Larry Raymond. How, they ask, can we honor such a “racist”?

Lewiston’s name has been dragged through the mud ever since the former mayor publicly stated this town was hard-pressed to handle the influx of Somali refugees.

From my perspective, the most galling criticism came from the wealthy liberals living along Maine’s coast.

I am from Lewiston, and I come from immigrant stock. I am insulted when anyone from Cape Elizabeth or Falmouth or Kennebunk calls this town racist because our former mayor sought to control the flow of African immigrants here.

Before anyone from coastal Maine casts aspersions on Lewiston, let’s see Cape Elizabeth open its arms to Somalis; let’s see Ogunquit create affordable housing and welcome people from Somalia. Let’s see Kennebunk adopt zoning rules that allow working people to put affordable modular homes on land in that town.

None of this will happen. The average liberal is very content with racial equality as long as it doesn’t happen in his or her backyard. Zoning laws can be extremely effective tools to keep out undesirable people while maintaining the faade of tolerance.

For what it’s worth, Lewiston has done an amazingly good job of integrating people from a much different culture. Can we say the same thing about Ogunquit?

Andrew Hall, Lewiston

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