If you continue to support our fascist and racist president, then you are a fascist and a racist.

In 2016, on the eve of the presidential election, I wrote an open letter describing my fears of what could happen if Donald Trump was elected. It is truly, painfully unfortunate that almost all of those fears have been substantiated. In the last four years, he has proven to be every bit the foolish, childish, petty autocrat that I and many foretold when he took office.

At every step, he has chosen to fan the flames of division instead of encouraging us to come together as an American people. At every step, he has chosen to enrich his friends and the ultra-rich, rather than contribute to the common good. At every step, he has flaunted the Constitution and the foundations of our democracy.

At the time of the election, I believed that understanding was possible, that I could continue a discourse with those that I don’t agree with, and that we could work together to fulfill an America that was by the people, for the people, and of the people. I didn’t want to alienate friends and family members that I love and care about over the dirt and grime of politics. I was mistaken. I regret my complicit silence. The time for discourse is past. 

This is a rebuke.

If you continue to support our fascist and racist president, then you are a fascist and a racist.

There is no room for discussion here. He has called down the military on American citizens. He has ordered tear gas and flash bangs thrown into crowds of peaceful protesters. With our fellow Americans running in fear, their eyes stinging from gas, heavily armed soldiers nipping their heels with riot shields and night sticks, Trump strode across a park and posed in front of a church holding a Bible. 

The members of that church, including the vicar, were in the crowds ministering when the tear gas came. They were chased away from their own church so that someone, looking and sounding very much like a tyrant, could prove his might, and threaten to harm more of our fellow American citizens.

When will you come to your senses that this man is not a good person? That he doesn’t have your best interests in mind? That if given the chance he will seize more and more power, and refuse to relinquish it when the time comes? 

If you continue to support our fascist and racist president, then you are a fascist and a racist.

I will not stand on the wrong side of history. I will not be one of the people who ignored the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. I will not be a Vichy collaborator. I will not be one of the angry white men screaming threats at black children during desegregation. I will stand for what I believe is right: union, justice, domestic tranquility, a common defence, a general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,

The sanctity of our republic should be beyond political parties and demagogues, dogwhistles and gaslighters. Donald Trump is not the only person at fault. The Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, has become the Trump Party, a vast front of enablers and bootlickers more concerned with holding power than helping their constituents. I am committing wholeheartedly to doing whatever it takes to vote Donald Trump and all of his cronies out of office, and ensuring that a peaceful transition of power takes place. 

If you plan on voting for Trump or his cronies in November, think for a minute. Is your life really better than it was four years ago? When a crisis appeared, was it handled the way it should have been, or was it made worse? Don’t you feel the stress I do every day as I wake, wondering what war or plague or pestilence will appear on the front page? Do you really want a repeat of the last four years?

If you’re with me, then let’s talk. Let’s find ways to spread the word, to ensure that everyone is able to practice their right to vote, that everyone is rightly informed, and that our representatives in our government know what our priorities are, and especially that we’re watching them.

If you have really soul searched and you still support the party of Trump, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should rethink your life and your priorities. And if you need to unfriend me, go ahead. I don’t think we’re going to get along any more.

If you continue to support our fascist and racist president, then you are a fascist and a racist.