It has been exactly a week since President Elect Donald Trump's surprising upset at the polls. In your acceptance speech, you pledged that you will "be president for all Americans," and asked those who did not support you for their guidance and help so that we can "work together and unify our great country." Over the last 15 months on the campaign trail, your rhetoric created an environment of hate and vitriol that you sir must now denounce. Your election as president on last Tuesday night has unleashed a torrent of violent acts and hate crimes across this country including cross burnings, threatening racist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigration graffiti, assaults on gays and Muslims verbal attacks and downright intimidation. This uptick in post-election hate crimes prompted Nevada Senator Harry Reid to write in a statement, "Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like America... If Trump wants to roll back the tide of hate he unleashed, he has a tremendous amount of work to do and he must begin immediately."
Some of your supporters including your campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says that it is the role of Hillary Clinton and President Obama to quell both the protesters and address these hate crimes. Mr. Trump, a President's job is to lead and to lead by example. You called out the protesters for protesting your election, you must now do the same to those committing acts of violence and hate crimes in your name.
I am naturalized American citizen, and while you were not my candidate, like it or not I must accept the fact that you are now my president and I am willing to give you a chance. One of America's strength and its greatest asset is its diversity. The founding fathers of this country may not have known it then but the term E Pluribus Unum -- "Out of many, one," was adopted as our national motto in 1776 and today truly encapsulates our country's pluralism of acceptance, respect, and appreciation of each other's uniqueness, regardless of our ethnic, socio-economic, civic, or religious backgrounds.
While as a candidate you may were able to ignore the racist, xenophobic behavior of some your supporters, as president you cannot and must not. In sixty days, you will begin your term as President in earnest, you must therefore immediately forcefully and unequivocally denounce and repudiate the outpouring of racist, sexist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and homophobic insults, threats and attacks being committed in your name.
As the leader of the free world you will essentially take charge of a country of more than 320 million diverse people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientation and religions and all us deserve to enjoy the full tenets of the Pledge Alliance " with liberty and justice for all, "and to do so in safety and with dignity.
In one week, Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving. Yes, things have changed dramatically since our last Thanksgiving but there is one thing that has not changed and that is the meaning of the holiday --- a tradition that originated in my home state of Massachusetts in 1621 when the Native American Wampanoag tribe reached out to the newly arrived Europeans to welcome them and help them adapt and settle into their new home. As you gather with your family Mr. Trump I hope you will take a moment to reflect on the true meaning of this holiday a day that celebrates families and extended disparate families setting aside their differences and coming together in Unity to share nature's bounty and express gratitude. You must now reach out to all Americans particularly those who are your constituents and remind them that in America, regardless of your background or whether are native born or an immigrant like me, each of us is entitled to a place at the table.