WISCASSET, Maine — Town officials responded quickly after a member of Wiscasset Middle School’s Civil Rights Team reported offensive words written on a local pump station.
Kyle Beeton, faculty adviser for the Civil Rights Team, said eighth-grader Ryan Medina spotted swastikas and the letters “KKK” written on an Old Bath Road pump station a little more than a week ago.
“He knew they should be gotten rid of somehow, but he didn’t know what to do about it,” Beeton said. “I advised him to call the town office, and he got results.
“I’m proud of the student for recognizing and wanting to do something. I’m also pleased with the town’s response.”
Beeton emphasized the importance of swift reactions to offensive messages.
“Symbols like this often escalate,” he said. “They think maybe they can get away with it next time. We totally reject symbols of hate like this, no matter who they’re targeting.”
Medina’s action, and that of the town, also speaks well of the community, Beeton said.
“It sent a message that we don’t put up with this sort of thing in Wiscasset,” he said.
Sounds like the Tea Party at work.
yeah becasue the democrats who stood in favor of Slavery, Jim Crow and in opposition to the Civil Rights Act have such a stellar record when it comes to their treatment of minorities
give me a break, the tea party wishes to break the chains of a tyrannical government while the democrats STILL want to enslave everyone they can with their long-favored chains of oppression
Hopefully class divisionists like yourself will become boorish fodder that people will soon tire of and return to civilized political discussions instead of painting every act of society on one group; you know, you sound like you border on a hateful prejudice bordering on the same scale as racism – a liberal democrat here.
Still too bad someone engaged in such a stupid act, but to blame a specific group is almost as repulsive as the act.
Well said
Looks like the anti-jew, anti-black democrat faction is back to their old ways once more….
Sorry, most of those old Democrats who favored state-rights, small federal government, and racism have long since moved to the Republican Party as we can see from the Republican Party’s actions, platform, and leaders.
This doesn’t surprise me considering they did not want to change their hateful high school mascot name.
Even the parents of the kids who do these things probably don’t know that the symbols stand for a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, extreme nationalism, anti-liberalism, militarism and authoritarianism.
So let’s forgive them, for they know not what they do.
The humble Farmer
While I certainly understand the historical significance of the symbols associated with such things, in the specific case of the swastika this would be a great opportunity for teachers to help their students understand the history of the symbol and that it wasn’t always seen as a sign of evil. Perhaps there’s not time in the curriculum with all the preparation for No Child testing, but it would be a great opportunity to show students that things are not always as they first appear and that in other parts of the world symbols that are seen as evil here (and rightfully so) are not always seen that way among other cultures.
Juvenile mentalities are responsible for these affronts. All the perpretators understand is that they are annoying adults.
I hope they find the Jew who did the graffiti.