Symbol of hate
As the South Carolina House of Representatives voted to remove the Confederate flag from the capitol grounds, the Bangor Daily News raised it. I was shocked to see nearly half a page in the July 9 issue of the paper devoted to an article, color photo of the flag and a smiling picture of the man who describes the concerns of those legislators who voted to have the flag removed as “overblown.”
What was overblown was the inordinate space and attention given by the BDN to someone who does not understand the meaning of this flag. The attention given to this man and this flag demonstrated total insensitivity, not only to those who lost loved ones at the hands of a racist who flaunted the flag in a photo before his shooting spree but to the memory of the thousands who died defending the Union. It ignored the history of this flag that was flown to defend the enslavement of black people, symbolically expressing white supremacy and resistance to integration, voting rights and equality.
Where was the BDN coverage of the vigil held June 29 on the Bangor-Brewer bridge in support of the victims of the Charleston shooting and calling for an end to racism?
Ilze Petersons
Orono
Waterfront Concert smoking
As a regular attendee of the Waterfront Concert shows, I have regularly commented to the venue management via social media and the staff about the abundance of smoking during the concerts. It is ridiculous that I had to leave the Eric Church show on July 9 early with my family because there was not a spot on the lawn where you could find a smoke-free area.
Signage is a great first step, but there is a complete lack of enforcement or interest in enforcement by the venue and facility staff. One security staff member told me there was “nothing he could do,” followed by another agreeing there was a lot of smoking all over but they couldn’t handle it.
It is time for the city to defend public health and make 100 percent tobacco-free a requirement of the Waterfront Concert facility lease. Signage, announcements before the show and a zero-tolerance policy with offenders being ejected would be a welcome policy to protect workers and attendees.
Lance Boucher
Manchester
Minimum wage response
I want to thank Barbara Harmon for her July 4 letter to the editor, in which she asked in response to my June 24 BDN OpEd, “Why hasn’t Northern Girl already increased their workers’ wages?” Let me first say that our starting wage for kitchen workers already is above the minimum wage and our average pay for these employees is more than $10 per hour.
More importantly, raising the statewide minimum wage will improve the entire state economy and help us build our customer base. Over 130,000 Mainers would get raises if the Maine Small Business Coalition-supported referendum passes next year. Those families would spend tens of millions more dollars locally buying, among other things, the produce, dairy and meat products of Maine family farms. We expect our business to grow as a result, more than covering the cost of increased wages.
Chris Hallweaver
General Manager, Northern Girl LLC
Van Buren
Flag double standard
With all the comments about the flying of the Confederate flag, I wonder how those folks would feel if the Nazi flag also were flown for historic reasons.
Nina Collins
Franklin
LePage the bully
It’s sad. I hear Gov. Paul LePage talk against bullying as he did last month to Brunswick junior high students, but he bullies others. When questioned about it, he displays the shroud of all bullies: He was just joking. It’s no joke. Bullying is a very bad habit. The antidote to bullying is compromise, something that has to be learned and practiced. Understandably, he was elected by an uncompromising minority.
When he was young, he apparently learned bullying worked for him, but now it doesn’t. He needs the understanding and hugs he didn’t get when he was young. Someday he will see it takes more courage to compromise than to stonewall. Otherwise, all his effort will just end in the sands of Ozymandias. Sad and tragic.
Philip C. Groce
Union