I would like to thank you. Thank you for revealing America’s darkest secrets, for ripping them from the depths of our history and catapulting them into the spotlight. Thank you for bringing together hateful groups of people, so we can identify them, put a face to this seemingly intangible word: “racist”. Thank you for making me feel the need to write this, for awakening my blindness to my own privilege. I will not be silent when your hard hand of oppression is coming down on my friends, my neighbors, and my country. You are not my country. Your administration is not my country. But then again, you are. You are the America nobody wanted to see. You are the America that has been creeping in the shadows for many years. We have turned our backs for so long on such issues of discrimination, on many sides, that we thought they would just disappear. This is our country now, and we need to face it head on.

I am 20 years old. I still believe in a world built on love, not hate, even if you do not. Love will always trump hate. I will not let you intimidate my friends, my family, and my fellow American citizens. I stand next to them in solidarity, and we stand across from you, looking you straight in the eyes. We see your weaknesses, we see your fear, and we see your unhappiness.

Although you have tried to divide us, we stand united. We are a nation of immigrants. We are all deserving of love, and it is pure love that will get us through. For me, writing this has been the first step. Everyday, I will love rather than hate. I will do small acts of kindness, I will use my privilege to protect others, and I will not let hate win. America will not let hate win.

So thank you for your very clear message that minorities are not welcome in your America. That’s why I’m making it my America. This is my country, and I will not stand for your ideologies of hatred and bigotry. The United States of America is our country, and we will not stand for anything other than love.

Sincerely,

An American Citizen