By that point, about 1,100 Somali immigrants lived in Lewiston, a city of about 36,000 residents.

One Somali resident told a local newspaper he was shocked by the sentiment in the mayor's letter. "He thinks he's mayor for only white residents," Mohamed Driye said. "He's not only their mayor. He's our mayor, too." Others, in a letter, described the mayor as "an ill-informed leader ... bent toward bigotry."

Two hate groups — the National Alliance and what was then known as the World Church of the Creator — saw an opportunity for "outreach." They planned a January 2003 rally in Lewiston, hoping to attract disgruntled, anti-immigrant residents. Their own "open" letter to the town began with this greeting: "Dear fellow white people."

Somalis and their many supporters in Lewiston planned an alternative event. Local churches, students and dozens of concerned residents joined the effort.

Working with hate-group experts, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, the group chose not to engage the hate groups directly, but rather to send a separate, stronger message against hate.

"We invited everyone together ... and brought everyone under one umbrella," the Rev. Mark Schlotterbeck said.

Added James Carignan, a professor and dean at Bates College, referring to the planned hate rally: "This is not who we are, and we have to make sure people know that."

The umbrella group, calling itself the Many and One Coalition, planned teach-ins and a diversity rally for the same day, in a different location.

The result? More than 4,000 attended the Many and One event, while fewer than 100 showed up at the hate rally.

Ziad Hamzeh later made a film about Lewiston; "The Letter" has played at film festivals across the country, drawing praise and garnering awards.

"I went to Lewiston thinking, 'What do these people have to teach me?' And they taught me a lot," Hamzeh said. "They taught me to be a better American, a better human being. I was able to relearn and re-experience again what America is."