WATERVILLE, Maine — It was a homecoming for Gov. Paul LePage, who on Monday made the half-hour journey north from Augusta to commemorate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with residents who know him simply as “Paul.”
LePage was mayor of Waterville from 2003 until he took office as governor in 2011 and raised his family in the Elm City. As mayor, he always showed up for the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast at the Muskie Center and has attended all but one year ever since.
“We’re so busy that I don’t get the time to come down to Waterville often for social events,” he said. “This is fun because this morning I’ve already seen a few dozen people who are friends of mine.”
The governor was not scheduled to speak during this year’s program, which included an address from Thomas College professor of education Richard Biffle. However, he spoke with media about King’s legacy.
King’s peaceful struggle for civil rights contrasted with the more militant rhetoric of the Black Panther Party and of Malcolm X, who criticized King’s commitment to nonviolence, LePage said.
“Not everyone in the civil rights movement was peaceful, and MLK was a breath of fresh air,” LePage said. “He was a very relaxed leader and powerful speaker, who brought sense to the civil rights movement.”
LePage was 19 years old when King died in 1968, killed by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee. But LePage said as a child in Lewiston, it had been difficult to relate to the civil rights struggle being waged primarily in the South and in major metropolitan areas throughout the country.
“We didn’t really understand racism, because in Lewiston I think there was 99.9 percent white,” he said. “But we saw a lot. I remember when Eisenhower sent some troops down in the South.”
He also said his dedication to attending the MLK Day events in Waterville was a way of countering the state’s racist past.
“One reason I celebrate [MLK Day] is, back in 1922, the largest KKK rally held in the United States was here in Maine,” LePage said. “I’m not too happy about that.”
In the early 20th century, French speaking, mostly Catholic Quebecois moved south from Canada into Maine, including LePage’s family. The new immigrants often encountered hostility when they came to Maine, partly because of the ascension of the Ku Klux Klan. Known largely for white supremacy, the Klan gained a foothold in Maine, with nativist, anti-Catholic sentiment.
In the mid-1920s, the Klan’s membership rolls in Maine totaled more than 150,000, according to a history published to mark Bangor’s sesquicentennial in the Bangor Daily News. Ralph Owen Brewster was elected governor in 1924 with KKK support. To this day, many suspect Brewster himself of being a Klansman.
LePage views the struggle for civil rights as ongoing but said the fight is more desperately needed in the South than in Maine.
“I think that we still have a ways to go in the South,” he said. “Some are still fighting the Civil War down there, unfortunately.”
While he said “there’s always work to be done” to combat racism, it’s another type of oppression that’s more pressing, he said.
“Frankly, I think the issue in our society is less about race and more about class, more about poverty, the haves and have-nots. It’s always been that way,” he said. “That’s where I think there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”
The governor said he was happy to continue marking King’s legacy in Waterville, where he could reconnect with friends from before he became governor.
That includes the Alexis family, who attended the MLK Day event and caught up with LePage. Jonathan Alexis said he and LePage used to coach youth soccer together.
“We would pick up the kids who weren’t getting picked, and it was fun. Some of them were good,” Alexis said.
He said LePage’s continued attendance of the Muskie Center event on MLK Day, even as governor, was appreciated in Waterville.
“It helps to build community,” he said.
With most state offices closed, LePage said he planned to spend the rest of MLK Day working on his fledgling workshop at his family’s new home in Boothbay.
The governor, an avid woodworker, said his upcoming projects aren’t for the Blaine House. He announced Lauren LePage, his daughter and assistant chief of staff in his administration, plans to marry Mt. View Elementary School teacher Jordan Larlee later this year.
“I’m putting my workshop together so I can start making furniture for my daughter when she gets married in October,” he said. “I’ve got to fill a whole houseful.”
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
