Authors take new look at Maine's black history

By Bangor Daily News Staff

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 - Bangor Daily News

By John Buell

The first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina stirred a few mainstream journalists to reflect on President Bush's performance in its wake. Despite the president's acknowledgment of the role that a history of racial discrimination played in the lives of many New Orleans residents, he has done little to follow up on his noble words. Nonetheless, before the rest of us become too self-righteous, it would be wise to take a closer look at the history of race relations. Even in Maine, a state where racial politics seems less salient than in much of the rest of the United States, race has often been an occasion for bitter conflict and injustice.

I recently received a stunning illustrated anthology that highlights both the persistence of racism and continuing efforts to redress it. "Maine's Visible Black History" (Tilbury House of Gardiner) is a collaborative, multi-scholar work edited by and with extensive commentary from H.H. Price and Gerald E. Talbot. Price is a longtime civil rights activist with a background in African American history. Talbot is an eighth-generation black American and black history scholar and the first black to be elected to the Maine State Legislature (1972-1978). (Full disclosure: Harriet Price is a longtime family friend.)

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