An Open Letter to the President-elect | November 17, 2016
President-elect Trump,
As a tax-exempt public charity, we at Capital Good Fund have for seven years worked to provide equitable financial services that create pathways out of poverty. And while we have occasionally weighed in on public policy, we have stayed out of politics.
Your election to President of the United States of America forces us to speak up. We cannot ignore that during your campaign you insulted, marginalized, and threatened many of those we serve—immigrants, people of color, gays and lesbians, women, Muslims, the disabled. You promised to deport millions of people, disparaged and objectified women, and spoke of jailing your political opponents and infringing on the freedoms we hold dear.
Capital Good Fund stands with, and will continue to serve, those who now fear for their safety and prosperity. We oppose racism, bigotry, misogyny, and xenophobia in all their forms. Our organization will vigorously speak out against polices that threaten the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And we will not be silent; as Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, “There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.” That time is now.
We take this opportunity to elevate the voices of those across the country who are joining us in resistance to hatred:
- Like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, we call upon you to revise and rethink your immigration policy proposals. Mass deportations of hardworking immigrants would violate the civil rights of citizens and non-citizens alike, be an economic disaster, and tear apart families and communities;
- Like the Council on American-Islamic Relations, we are deeply concerned by the increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence. It is time for you to make it clear to the nation that Islamophobia is anti-American;
- Like the Southern Poverty Law Center, we demand that you unequivocally condemn white nationalism and neo-Nazism, and reject the figureheads of such movements: those individuals have no place in the White House—the “People’s House”;
- And like the American Civil Liberties Union, we want you to know that efforts to reverse decades of progress on civil rights will be met with opposition in the courts and peaceful protests in the streets.
Sincerely,
Andy Posner
Founder & CEO
Capital Good Fund
If you prefer, you can download a PDF of this letter here.
