Playing the race card

If I’ve broken a law, I am understandably nervous around law enforcement and I might be hesitant to call for assistance if I need it. After all, I might be discovered and arrested. This is true whether my offense is driving an unregistered car, trespassing or entering the country illegally. And this self-created dilemma applies regardless of my ethnicity.

Not so according to Beth Stickney’s op-ed (BDN, Aug. 24, “Immigrant workers face a Down East dilemma”). It claims that if I am Hispanic, my nervousness and hesitance derive not from the fact that I broke the law, but from the fact that I am Latino. According to this tortured logic, it’s the racism of Down East Maine law enforcement that is to blame.

I don’t buy it. Any person of any race who breaks the law must live with the consequences of his actions, including the possibility of detection and arrest if he encounters law enforcement. It is irresponsible to play the race card when it doesn’t apply, and we don’t build respect or good feelings between Mainers and our Latino population by doing so. A more accurate title for this op-ed: “All lawbreakers face a dilemma.”

Jonette Christian

Holden