To all of you who are legitimately afraid of what may happen now that Donald Trump has been elected, I have a message. I'm speaking directly to you. I'm speaking to the Muslim woman who is afraid to cover her head in public. I'm speaking to the young black man who has to drive a broken down car across town for a minimum wage job, struggling to better himself, who trembles in fear when a police officer pulls him over for a broken tail light. I'm speaking to the young Asian boy in a rural high school who is thinking about cutting his wrists because he gets called a fag. I'm speaking to the elderly Latino man working three jobs to send money back home to take care of his sick daughter. I'm speaking to the middle aged overweight lady who has no sense of self worth because of the men who abused her. To anyone who I haven't specifically mentioned but has the same sense of trepidation, I'm speaking to you.
I'm a white, Christian male, over 40, who voted for Trump. I'm the picture perfect demographic of what you probably are angry at right now. I'm an old white guy. (Wish I could say rich, but I'm not.) And do you know what? I'm afraid too. I'm afraid of what my vote for Trump may turn into. It may turn into regret. But do you know what it is right now? It's hope. I truly hope he makes America great again. And do you know what else? If he fails to deliver, if his policies harm us, and by us I mean ALL of us, including you, I will oppose him also. I will stand with you in protest. Why? Because I love you. You are my fellow Americans. You want what I want. You want a life where we are free to pursue our American Dream, in whatever flavor it may be served. I am with you.
Now here comes the hard truth. The problems we have right now, aren't Donald Trump's fault. They aren't Obama's fault. They aren't George Bush's fault. They aren't the fault of any one president or administration. Look it the mirror. It's our fault. We've been duped. We've bought into a narrative fed to us via an education system and a media machine, and we've been consumed by it.
Donald Trump isn't going to make America great again. He can't. It starts with us. We have to change. We have to change our hearts. We have to start loving each other again as Americans and we have to grasp onto what it was that made us great in the first place. Remember 9/11? Remember how we united after that? It sucks, it really sucks that we've gotten so far off track from that. But we don't have to be. We can come together again. So now we had 11/9. And for a lot of us, it was just as traumatic. But my message is to you that I love you, and I stand with you. Donald Trump is a catalyst. It can be for evil, or for good, but the choice is going to be up to each and every one of us.
#ItStartsWithTheHeart
I hope you will help me share this message of love and respect all through our land. Especially to your friends who are protesting. Talk to those who have an open mind and will listen. Share my message. Share this hash tag. Be the light in the darkness. We are better than this. We are smarter than this.
Let's make this happen for the good of our nation, and the prosperity of each of us.
I love you all, my beautiful and broken fellow Americans.
