Whatever pain two Biddeford residents thought they would inflict on a black mayoral candidate by dressing as Ku Klux Klan members and parading in front of his house we hope was offset by their realization of the sheer stupidity of their act. Nevertheless, the decision by the Attorney General’s Office to regard the speech as protected was the right one.

Robert Kalex and Denise Everest, who run the Downtown Coffeehouse in Biddeford, decided shortly before the election that they did not like candidate Rory Holland’s 20-year-old criminal record and made their displeasure known by putting on sheets and pointed hoods fashioned from pizza boxes. Besides imbuing their hair with the aroma of pepperoni, the two protestors accomplished little except to reveal how quickly people will reach for the easiest, meanest stereotype when it comes to race.

Despite the revulsion the protest might cause many Mainers, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Harnett properly assessed the situation, noting that the faux Klan twins’ action was “highly offensive speech, but it is protected speech.” Giving the fullest breadth to the First Amendment is an essential protection to all Americans, and the AG’s Office was right to label it Moronic rather than Hate.

But the best comments on the situation came from Moses Sebunya, president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP, whose words bring calm to an event that could have received a much angrier reaction. “There are some things that are annoying, but not illegal,” he said. “It’s sad. It’s unfortunate. But it tells us something about the society we live in and the much deeper problems we face with racism.”

Well said.