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Hundreds Rally Against Hate In Lewiston: 'I Want To See The World In Peace'

Susan Sharon
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Maine Public
"I want to see the world in peace," 8-year-old Amina Beshir of Auburn tells a crowd Sunday at an anti-hate rally in Lewiston.

A crowd of several hundred turned out for a vigil against hate in Lewiston's Kennedy Park on Sunday.  Speakers included Gov. Janet Mills, the mayors of Lewiston and Portland, Muslim city councilors and faith leaders from the Muslim and Jewish communities. They condemned the attack on the mosques in New Zealand last week that killed 50 people and left dozens more injured. They also urged non-Muslims to stand up against white supremacy and Islamophobia.

Dequa Dhalac is the first African American and Muslim member of South Portland's City Council. "Racism, hatred and white supremacy is a global terrorist threat and it should be called for what it is and we need to end it," she said.

Credit Susan Sharon / Maine Public
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Maine Public
Mainers rally in Lewiston Sunday to urge peace in the wake of last week's mass shooting at mosques in New Zealand.

This past week, the Maine Republican Party's vice chairman, Nick Isgro, came under fire from state Senate Republicans and others for  blaming immigrants for a series of infectious disease outbreaks that health officials say are the result of fewer Americans getting vaccinated. 

Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling said he was reminded on St. Patrick's Day that the same kind of erroneous claims were made about the Irish in 1850 when they arrived and were greeted by signs that said, "No Irish Allowed."

"But we know better in the state of Maine about the importance of diversity and immigration," Strimling said. "Probably what I am most proud of in this work is how we do stand up to say that we will not tolerate intolerance every time it occurs."

Credit Susan Sharon / Maine Public
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Maine Public
Faith leaders joined Gov. Janet Mills (3rd from right in front row) and officials from Maine's largest cities at an anti-hate rally Sunday in Lewiston.

Strimling noted that 15 years ago when the Ku Klux Klan distributed leaflets in Lewiston, then-Gov. John Baldacci joined more than 1,000 other people in a rally to say that intolerance will not be tolerated.  And when candidate Donald Trump came to Portland  on a campaign stop and claimed that that Somalis were committing crimes, Strimling said 500 people turned out at City Hhall the following day. 

Then, when President Trump banned Muslim from coming to the country, Strimling says 1,000 people stood together at the Portland Jetport.  

"That is what Maine is all about," Strimling said. "Every time this happens, we stand together...I hope that someday we don't have to do this anymore but unfortunately, hatred runs deep and we must confront it with love and resistance."

Among the victims of the mass shootings in New Zealand were foreigners, several high school students and children, including a 4-year-old boy. Eight-year-old Amina Beshir of Auburn closed out the Sunday vigil in Kennedy Park with her hope for the future.

"Yes, I'm black, I'm Muslim and I'm American," she said. "And I want to see the world in peace, where we don't attack people.  I don't ever want to see what happened at the mosque happen again.  Even if I'm a kid, it doesn't mean I can't change the world and I hope you can, too."

Originally published March 18, 2019 at 5:54 a.m. ET.