It takes self-confidence and integrity to acknowledge a full, accurate history, the intentional and unintentional, the good, the bad and the somewhere in between, the just and unjust, the contributions as well as the great harms perpetrated by the likes of Christopher Columbus and other European explorers, settlers and invaders. Maine’s lawmakers and Gov. Mills demonstrated that kind of courage and strength of character when they replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.
By his actions and his “Columbus Day” proclamation, Waterville Mayor Nick Isgro, on the other hand, revealed his insecurity and selfish willingness to be divisive and loose with the facts at a time when we desperately need our leaders to bring us together and be honest and humble. His insistence on embracing a selective, biased, self-promoting and white supremacist view of history is intentionally divisive and reflects badly on Waterville. But it reflects even worse on him as a person.
Lisa Morris
Portland
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