I am writing about the idea of Maine license plates bearing the words “Native Mainer” for a selected group of native-born Mainers.

To be native born doesn’t make one a better Mainer. In Texas, you often see bumper stickers saying “Yankees Go Home” or “I’m a native-born Texan.” It smacks of territorial snobbery.

We moved to Maine for many reasons one of which is the people who are independent yet generous; another is its natural beauty, which is hard to match elsewhere.

Probably the most important is the combining of the two; the natural, as in the character, acceptance of everyone who comes to visit or live. Why would you want to spoil it with an elitist license plate? Why would someone feel he or she had to make a distinction between them and me? I pay taxes, I spend money, I support good causes and I live by the golden rule. I may not be a native Mainer, but I’m proud to be a Mainer.

Maureen B. Freeman

Bar Harbor