NEW YORK -- The Not Who We Are campaign is empowering a wide variety of Americans to organize their friends, neighbors and people with similar interests to stand up for people threatened and targeted by the ugly forces driving Donald Trump’s campaign. By amplifying voices not traditionally heard in presidential campaigns, we are sending a powerful message that Donald Trump and his campaign are not who we are as a country.
Today, newly launched campaigns from a self-identified “tech geeks,’ first generation American small business owners, and a national group of educators and academics who advocate for those with disabilities highlight the broad spectrum of Americans who are using the Not Who We Are platform to organize their friends, neighbors and coworkers.
Below, in their own words, are their reasons for standing up (as always, these are real quotes from real people who started real letters):
“His cruel rhetoric not only denies dignity to all who are disabled and who struggle for public presence so that they may make their voices heard; it also reinforces trauma experienced by people who have already suffered various forms of abuse, and those with PTSD such as survivors and veterans… We all know that the Serge Kovalesky incident is only one small example of the kind of bullying hate speech from which Donald Trump has built a public platform. We write now to say that we must stand against his words and the harm they inflict.”
---Letter started by 13 leading educators and academics who advocate for those with disabilities
“As a concerned engineering student, I invite all scientists, engineers, developers, space advocates and enthusiasts, to stand together against the racial, religious and other intolerance that Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric promotes… Every time he has spoken about the tech industry, his comments have sometimes been critical. This also applies to science as well, particularly on the subject of global warming, he views it as a hoax invented by the Chinese, but states that there is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of ‘climate change,’. And, Trump’s desire to direct funding to current challenges like infrastructure, rather than future-oriented scientific research or missions, shows he has skeptical of the future, given he builds his campaign on the imaginary past.”
---Letter started by Brian See, on behalf of space, science and tech geeks
“As a first generation American and a proud Brooklyn retail business owner, I want to invite all my fellow business owners, customers, friends and family to stand up against the racial, gender, national origin and cultural bigotry perpetuated by Donald Trump through his words and policy proposals. Trump's hateful policies fly in the face of everything a successful small business owner should hold dear: respect for diversity, freedom of expression, tolerance and loving your neighbor as yourself.”
---Letter by Andrei Finocchiaro, a member of Brooklyn First Generation American Small Business Owners and president of Greenwood Grape & Still
Not Who We Are is a movement of people from across the United States who are speaking their conscience by starting open letters as employees, professionals, students, and members of civic institutions to say that Donald Trump’s racially intolerant rhetoric and policies are “Not Who We Are.” The campaign features NotWhoWeAre.us , an innovative online platform that allows Americans who are disgusted by Trump’s attacks to sign an open letter or create a more targeted one of their own.
To learn more about Not Who We Are, follow us on twitter at @NotWhoWeAre or visit http://notwhoweare.us/.