More than 20 faith leaders joined students, faculty members and others for a rally in solidarity with Maine immigrants at the University of Southern Maine.
Organizers said the noontime gathering sends a message that Maine won’t stand for discrimination, intolerance or hate. The rally was planned in response to recent acts of hate reported around the country, including anti-Muslim graffiti found at the USM student government offices.
“As a nation, we are at a crossroad,” says Reza Jalali, a Muslim scholar and coordinator of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. “Remain one nation united by our values - event though a hyphenated nation but still a magic we call America. Or become divided tribes waving different flags.”
USM President Glenn Cummings pledged that the university would do all it could to stand up against hate. And Jane Field, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, says her nine diverse denominations are dedicated to the protection of the vulnerable and the outcasts and to welcome strangers.
“We must be here to say no to fear, no to hatred and racism and bigotry,” she says.
To do anything less than stand shoulder to shoulder, Field says, would be “a betrayal of our neighbors and ourselves.”
Members of the Muslim Student Association say they’re grateful for the support.
“Because of what’s happened recently, I feel like now people are stepping up and people do want to come out and stand up for themselves. I think that’s really amazing,” says Xafsa Shute, a freshman from Westbrook whose parents came to Maine from Somalia.
Shute is also vice president of the Muslim Student Association, a group that is more than 20 years old and normally has about a dozen members. But this year more than 60 students have joined, making it one of the largest student groups on campus.
Deeq Mohamed, the social media coordinator for the group, says he finds camaraderie in the membership and in events like the unity rally. As a Somali, he says he’s still trying to understand where the nation is headed.
“It’s absurd. The thing is it’s accepted now to actually be hateful. It’s not seen as unusual. It’s actually common now. And not only that, there’s nothing that’s being done about it,” he says.
Rachel Healy of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine says her group and others will do whatever is necessary to take on the challenges that lie ahead for minorities, for LGBTQ people and for women to feel safe.
“We will fight in the courts. We will fight in the Legislature. We will fight in the public square,” she says.
Healy says it’s time for everyone to recommit to values represented by various faiths and also by the Constitution. Those values, she says, include equality, justice and freedom.
