A free speech battle has erupted over a graffiti wall in Portland, Maine. The wall has long been a designated spot for graffiti. The City of Portland has never censored the graffiti, but a recent mock portrait of Governor Paul LePage in Ku Klux Klan robes has sparked outrage among some who thought it went too far. The city received multiple complaints.
Whitewash War
The original drawing was accompanied by four words painted in black, with one crossed out in red:
“Racist. Homophobe. Moron. Governor.”
City Won’t Remove Graffiti Of ‘Racist’ Maine Gov. #LePage Wearing #KKK Hood https://t.co/RAtvuffCLf via @TPM pic.twitter.com/9kHa8TEg77
— Doc (@mch7576) September 7, 2016
Someone whitewashed the drawing. No one knows who. But there were enough people who approved it that someone removed the whitewash, leaving the picture. And then someone replaced the Klan hood with Mickey Mouse ears and the original words with “No Hate. Hate is Hate.”
A graffiti mural of LePage originally had him dressed as a KKK leader, but this morning he has Mickey ears. pic.twitter.com/ymb3QMJfPS
— Kelsey Fabian (@KelseyFabian) September 7, 2016
LePage’s Racially Charged Remarks
Governor Paul LePage is well known for his outrageous remarks. Most recently, as Liberal America reported, he left a filthy, vicious voice mail for Democratic state representative Steve Gattine in response to remarks Gattine had made about the problem of deaths from overdoses on heroin and opioids. LePage believed that Gattine had called him a racist.
Why would anyone think he was racist? Here are some examples:
In a discussion about appropriate punishment for drug traffickers, LePage said:
“What we ought to do is bring the guillotine back. We could have public executions and we could even have which hole it falls in.”
Earlier in January 2016, LePage had this to say about drug dealers:
“With names like D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty—these types of guys— they come from Connecticut and New York, they come up here and sell their heroin, they go back home. Half the time they impregnate a young white girl before they leave.”
LePage maintains that the majority of people coming to Maine to sell drugs are black or Hispanic. However, statistics show
In February 2016, at a business breakfast in Lewiston, LePage mentioned a Mr. Chiu (pronounced “choo”), the chair of a Chinese investment firm that had interests in local paper mills. As LePage stated the man’s name, he made a loud, fake sneezing noise.
When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chastised him for refusing an invitation to attend ceremonies honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he said:
“Tell them to kiss my butt.”
Other Outrageous Statements
But LePage doesn’t limit his crude comments to racial issues. Here he is on other topics:
Lifting the ban on bisphenol-A (BPA):
“If you take a plastic bottle and you put it in the microwave and you heat it up, it gives off a chemical similar to estrogen. So the worst case is some women might have little beards.”
Criticizing Democratic state senator Troy Jackson:
“Senator Jackson claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.”
Talk Of Resignation
After the voice mail message became public, there were calls for LePage to resign. On August 30, 2016, LePage told radio listeners that he was considering resigning. However, he did apologize to Senator Gattine. But the following day, he stated that he would not resign. Paraphrasing Mark Twain, LePage tweeted:
“Reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated.”
LePage also rejected suggestions that he get treatment for mental health or substance abuse issues. Instead, he and his family will seek spiritual help.
