Dear Donald Trump,
I am not another teenage liberal here to tell you how much of a bigot, racist, and sexist you are because my intentions in this letter are not to criticize you personally, or insult you in any way. Actually, I’m writing this to help you. I want to help you the way Socrates once wanted to help the people of the world— to make them conscious of their opinions and choices, and help them live an honest and good life.
You see Mr. Trump, you don’t know me, but I know you. I know you were a democrat from 1946 to 1987 and 2001 to 2009. You did not solidify your Republican stance until 2012. You were born in Queens, you’ve had three marriages, and worked your father’s real estate and construction business into what it is today. Granted, these are facts anyone can look up, but it’s more than you’ll ever know about the nobodies and “losers” that make up around 90% of your country’s population.
Let’s imagine for a moment that the success of your campaign WASN’T based solely off of media coverage, and Monica Lewinsky jokes justifying hatred for the Clintons. This would mean you somehow managed to find a crowd of citizens willing to stand behind someone that has said, “Laziness is a trait in the blacks." Black guys counting my money- I hate it!” or “They’re rapists” (on Mexican Immigrants) or “You could see blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” (referring to Megyn Kelly). Perhaps you see nothing wrong with these statements, but I, and many others, do. From what I gather, I see you have managed to rile up the vast majority of the remaining hate groups of America. But I digress.
I see no use in hating you, or being angry with you because maybe you’re very smart. Maybe you know saying and doing awful things is what gets you this free publicity. I don’t know. Whether or not you ever see this message, my purpose of writing to you is simply this: I’m begging you to stop.
We are already a great country. We’ve been a great country since people started fighting for the freedom and equality for everyone. We CANNOT be a great country when the leader based his campaign on the basis of “speaking his mind” and being “anything but politically correct”. We CANNOT be a great country with a leader who digs up nightmarish beliefs of white supremacy and male chauvinism by using bitter and childish rhetoric in place of sound and valid arguments.
I want to grow up knowing my fellow citizens are not shamed because of their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other differences. I cannot face the next 4-8 years fearing for my friends, family, peers, and my country as a whole. In order to avoid this, for everyone’s well-being including your own, I come to my initiative in writing this.
Drop out. Stop while you can, before it’s too late.
With respect,
Abigail Fitzpatrick
West Virginia University
