Maine insurance agency slammed for racist Juneteenth message

A small business in Maine is facing backlash more than a racist indication posted in its window on Juneteenth.

“Juneteenth ~it is whatever…” the sign claimed. “We’re closed. Enjoy your fried hen & collard greens.”

A photo of the sign, taped to the entrance of the Harry E. Reed Insurance coverage Company in Millinocket, was shared on Facebook on Monday, June 20, by a resident of the town, Alura Stillwagon, who mentioned “the racism in Millinocket is actual.”

The agency did not immediately react to a request for remark from McClatchy Information.

A spokesman for Progressive, which is affiliated with the company, informed NPR that the business is “aware and appalled by the sign.”

“At Progressive, Variety, Fairness and Inclusion (DEI) are essential to our Main Values. We’re committed to developing an surroundings where our people today come to feel welcomed, valued and respected and assume that any person symbolizing Progressive to get element in this motivation,” Jeff Sibel instructed the outlet. “The sign is in direct violation of that dedication and doesn’t align with our company’s Core Values and Code of Conduct.”

Stillwagon’s mother, Lisa Groelly, informed her about the sign, NPR noted.

“I experienced to read through it far more than the moment because I considered it was something [my mom] observed on Fb,” Stillwagon informed the outlet. “But when she stated it was a organization [in town], I was quickly disgusted. People have this strategy that Maine isn’t extremely racist and that it is rather liberal. But up north, it is not like that at all.”

The business’ information was swiftly condemned by town officials and inhabitants of the town.

Millinocket City Council Chair Steve Golieb dealt with the issue in a June 21 statement, saying it is “deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable” for anybody to “make gentle of Juneteenth and what it represents for hundreds of thousands of slaves and their dwelling descendants.”

“There is no place in the City of Millinocket for these types of a blatant disregard of human decency,” the statement explained.

Damaging testimonials for the agency also commenced pouring in on Yelp and Google Reviews.

As of June 22, the agency has two stars on Google. Its Yelp web page, which has 84 reviews and just one star, shows an warn indicating that the small business has just lately acquired damaging general public interest and an influx of new reviews.

“We have briefly disabled the potential to article right here as we do the job to investigate the material,” Yelp reported on the business’ webpage. “While racism has no put on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any variety, all testimonials on Yelp need to replicate an genuine initially-hand purchaser expertise (even if that indicates disabling the means for consumers to express factors of watch we could concur with).”

Most of the business’ present-day Yelp evaluations reference the indication and criticize the business for submitting it.

The incident is a reminder that Maine isn’t eradicated from its history, College of Maine heritage professor Mary Freeman told the Bangor Day by day News.

“The truth that this human being could create a sign that does not use an apparent racial slur, but continue to will get its concept across by drawing on these varieties of associations and visuals that have experienced a racist association in American society again exhibits how Maine is not so far eradicated from this background,” Freeman informed the outlet.

Groelly, the mom of the Fb user who in the beginning shared shots of the sign, told NPR that she hopes the incident is a wake-up contact to inhabitants of the city.

“People need to know their historical past. They need to understand that there was a whole lot of struggling and that this holiday is warranted — and it’s required,” Groelly told the outlet.

Juneteenth, celebrated nationally on June 19, was noticed as a federal holiday break on June 20 this year. The situation turned a federally regarded holiday break in 2021 and commemorates the anniversary of when more than 250,000 enslaved Us residents in Texas acquired phrase in Galveston that they were being absolutely free by govt decree, in accordance to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Historical past & Tradition.

The vacation has been celebrated by Black communities in the U.S. due to the fact 1865, but only just lately turned a federal getaway when it been given renewed nationwide focus following the murder of George Floyd on May perhaps 25, 2020, McClatchy News reported.

This tale was at first printed June 22, 2022 3:46 PM.