Mayor Macdonald Should Resign

Over the past few weeks, Lewiston Mayor Robert MacDonald has made a series of inflammatory anti-Somali remarks.

First, he used his column in a local newspaper to complain that "submissive Somali women turn into obnoxious customers at the grocery store cash register."

Then he dismissively told a BBC documentary crew that "you know what, when you come here you accept our culture and leave your culture at the door." This brought national and international criticism to himself and the city he represents.

Instead of apologizing for his statements he went even further in remarks to local television stations, saying "These people are yelling about I'm insensitive to their culture, well if it's so great why aren't they back in Somalia. Why are they over here?" and "don't try to insert your culture, which obviously isn't working, into ours, which does."

He has been dismissive of any criticism, writing that "these complaints are coming almost exclusively from boo-hoo white do-gooders and their carpetbagger friends" and "a small number of extremist white liberals and their African surrogates."

He told NECN TV that "if you think I'm an extremist, then I consider you the enemy."

The mayor’s office shouldn’t be a platform for making these kinds of racist and anti-immigrant statements. Mayor MacDonald should apologize for his remarks and should resign as mayor so that we can put this behind us and move forward, creating a stronger community together.

Please sign below to join us in asking for MacDonald's resignation.