People of color sense danger in LePage’s words

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/02/people-of-color-sense-danger-in-lepages-words/

Forrest Butler moved from New York City to Brunswick with his wife four years ago. He wanted to relocate his business and start a family in a place far removed from the metropolitan frenzy.

Butler said it’s hard sometimes being a black man in an overwhelmingly white state, and he has become increasingly discouraged by the tone that’s been set by Maine Gov. Paul LePage.

Last week, the governor said during a town hall forum that heroin dealers arrested in Maine are overwhelmingly black or Hispanic, even though statistics don’t support that contention. He defended those comments for several days, and even expanded on them, as criticism mounted about why he brought race into the discussion about Maine’s drug epidemic in the first place.

“I feel as if I need to wear a T-shirt that says I’m not a drug dealer,” Butler said Thursday. “I’m a business owner, a homeowner, I have two children who are biracial. I moved to your state because it’s gorgeous and great for families.

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