Coming together

To the Editor:

In the midst of a defining moment in American history with the worst health risk in a century and the worst economy in 80 years, Americans are struggling to come together. Yet, while in the recent past the quiet knee of Colin Kaepernick on the field was met with criticism, shocking video of the knee on George Floyd’s neck resulting in his death, has spurred worldwide protest over the past two weeks. Protests highlight disturbing but previously inert statistics of black deaths, arrests and imprisonment, and centuries-long inequitable access to quality education, health care, and housing. Keeping the peace is critical to a stable civilization, but opportunists have taken advantage of peaceful protests to loot stores, burn buildings and incite violence.

The distress and threats consistently cited by Black Americans raise serious questions. Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan. It is a call for all to reflect on how we as a nation have continued to deprive our fellow citizens and human beings who have been part of the American experience for 400 years, full access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Maximizing the potential of every person living in America benefits all Americans.

While Maine has among the lowest percentages of Blacks in the country, their history is long here. Maine’s own history of race relations is complicated. Mainers were involved in the slave trade and slaves were held in Maine. The forced removal of the Black residents of Malaga Island in 1912 ranks among the state’s worst moments. But the record of Black history in Maine is incomplete, many of the buildings representing African-American history have not been preserved, and others, like Abyssinian Hall, remain unfinished. Rarity of a historic feature is typically grounds for increasing its significance.

Mainers welcoming immigrants helped nearly triple the state’s Black and double the Hispanic populations in the last 20 years. Welcoming new residents is critical to the long-term strength of the Maine economy which make overcoming economic and systemic hurdles for Black Mainers a job for all of us.

As preservationists, our job is to protect and preserve the physical remnants of our country’s history. Despite efforts in recent years to include more racially diverse perspectives, Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous communities are still woefully underrepresented in the national historic preservation field. For example, of the nearly 95,000 entries to the National Register of Historic Places, only two percent represent sites reflecting the lives and experiences of African Americans.

Maine Preservation was instrumental in the resurrection of Rock Rest in Kittery, one of the few Maine inns that catered to African American guests in mid-20th century – including Martin Luther King, and holds an easement on the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. But this is only a beginning.

We at Maine Preservation are committed to do more. We must use preservation as a tool to tell the whole and complete history of our state and country and to increase access to it. We must focus on the stories of our state’s Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latino communities told from the perspective of those communities. We are ready and willing to do that work and welcome your input and help.

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