The aging state is on an unsustainable path unless it recruits minorities, says a former attorney general. Former Maine Attorney General James Tierney gave a speech in Lewiston last month designed to make you feel uncomfortable. He said that Maine’s well-documented aging problem is really a racial problem, and if we don’t actively attract people who are not white to move to the state, we will become a repository for those too old and poor to chase economic opportunity elsewhere. Race is something most of us would rather not talk about, says Tierney, a Lisbon resident who lives part time in New York City, where he is director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School. But the consequences of not talking about it would be much worse for Maine. “I really understand why we do not talk about race. I have lived here all of my life, and the truth is that we like things the way they are,” he said. “While we may like Maine this way, we are on an unsustainable path, and being a leader means talking about unavoidable and, perhaps to some, unpleasant realities.” pressherald/2014/11/19/greg-kesich-maine-needs-more-nonwhites-or-its-in-big-trouble-lets-discuss/
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:35:40 +0000
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