The Letter
In childish scrawl, and with poor spelling, the author of the Canuck letter claimed to have met Muskie and his staff in Florida. The author alleges to have asked Muskie how he could understand the problems of African Americans, given Maine's small black population. According to the letter, a member of Muskie's staff then responded, "Not blacks, but we have Canucks" — which the letter spells "Cannocks" — and Muskie laughed at the remark. "Canuck" was a derogatory term for Americans of French-Canadian ancestry; a significant number of New Hampshire voters were so descended.
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