MAINE PUBLIC • February 8, 2023
In 1977, Maine's first Black state representative, Gerald E. Talbot, worked to pass new legislation that attempted to define offensive terms and remove them from geographic sites around the state. But 45 years later, Rachel Talbot Ross, the current state House Speaker and a ninth generation Mainer, says her father's bill has never been reckoned with and truly enforced. And she said those offensive terms and symbols have helped perpetuate a sense that she and others who look like her don't belong in Maine, even though it's the only place she's ever known. The event is part of an eight-part series of the new "Place Justice Initiative" hosted by the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous and Tribal Populations in Maine. More than 250 people attended Tuesday's virtual event.