Stephen Wessler says the center has been hearing about "disgusting" racist incidents, some allegedly committed by adults, for example. “One which I have not been able to have independent confirmation of, were apparently three black effigies were found hanging sometime after the election.” Wessler says he's been notified of numerous incidents at schools where students have used racial slurs and jokes aimed at the president-elect. “We’ve seen misguided attempts at humor that are both racially degrading but also intertwined with violent imagery, and are willing to articulate it in grotesque and violent ways.”

 

Wessler says that for the vast majority of Americans, the election of an African- American president is cause for celebration. But even though race relations have improved over the past couple hundred years, Wessler says the spate of slurs is evidence of the work that still has to be done.

 

Through the center's unity project Wessler says he's been working with teachers and students to foster an environment of inclusion and respect. They include Edward Little High in Auburn, which has been a leader in the ongoing attempt to stem prejudice and make schools safer. Leslie Morrill is the assistant principal. “A lot of it was inappropriate jokes; comments about what they were hearing on the news, or perhaps were hearing at home or somewhere in the community. It brought up some sort of undercurrents of not so great feelings.” But Morrill says her school has made exemplary strides in fighting prejudice since the arrival of Somali families to the Auburn-Lewiston area over the past several years. “Four years ago we had a real upsurge of violence. It certainly has improved. One way to tell that is when you look out over our cafeteria, kids are sitting all together in a variety; there is no color demarcation. Kids are involved regardless of whether they’re Somali, or Afro-Americans, or Hispanics, in a variety of activities throughout the school.”

 

The general public is also reacting to the apparent uptick in racial slurs and jokes. “It’s appalling of course. Totally unacceptable.” Portland resident Pat Sanborn. “I don’t know what’s going on with people, what their problems are that would lead to that kind of bigotry.”

 

As a result of the various incidents, State Senator William Diamond, who chairs the Legislature's Criminal Justice Committee, has joined two fellow lawmakers in sponsoring a resolution stating that the people of Maine reject acts of racism and threats of violence. “We can’t let them go unanswered, and if we do nothing else we have to stand up to that. And that’s what this resolution, this resolve will do. It will allow the entire Legislature to say ‘this is not right, we don’t agree with it, and please understand this is not who we are as a people.’”

 

Steven Wessler, meanwhile, says the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is planning to get letters out to school principals statewide with talking points on how to address racial problems among students.