The adopted child of a friend asked her, “Mom, if Donald Trump is elected, will he send me and my brother back to our countries of origin?” Here’s the mom’s response—along with Hillary Clinton’s response to a mixed-race boy who expressed his fears about the hateful language coming from the Trump campaign.
My friend Ruth Bayer posted this on Facebook, and has given me permission to repost here:
Facebook asks “what’s on your mind?” I will answer and hope.
What’s on my mind is that my children might not be safe if we make the wrong choice in this election.
I have written this before but I’ll write it again. My adopted 12 year old daughter asked this question in the spring of this year. “Mom, if Donald Trump is elected, will he send me and my brother back to our countries of origin?” I know my child is not the only one to think about this. I answered that she is a U.S. citizen, as is her brother, but in all honesty, in a Trump presidency, I do not know if I could guarantee that their citizenship would protect them.
My daughter is a strong young woman, proud of being a girl, searching for meaning and goodness. How will she find it with a president who demeans women in words and actions?
My son is a beautiful, bright, brown-skinned boy. He is 10. Most of his life he has known that a brown-skinned man can be president. How will he feel proud or safe or valued with a president who demeans all people of color with his actions and his words?
I am asking for friends to think about all our children, our daughters and our sons, and ask themselves, sincerely, seriously, who is best equipped to make sure our children have a chance for safety and respect in this country?
Whatever your experience has been, Donald Trump is not the answer. He will take us as low in office as he himself has gone in his own life with his words and his actions.
I will vote for Hillary with all this in mind. Please vote for Hillary.
Another friend posted this letter today (with permission), noting “a friend’s mixed race son has been very concerned about Trump” and that he received this letter from Hillary earlier in the year.
This is what is at stake in this election. Do we want a president that values all children and their families, or one that only values some?
For my own part, as a White lesbian mom with a White child, I worry that a Trump win would mean a Supreme Court that repeals federal recognition of our family and the legal and financial protections it brings. But I also worry that it would show a bully and a racist can rise to leadership of our country—indeed, that those skills played a part in getting elected. Is that who we are as a country?
My friend Ruth is straight and cisgender, but we have long recognized a bond because our families don’t fit the oft-presumed mold. We are, as Hillary says, Stronger Together. This is what gives me hope in the run up to the election—that enough people will recognize the impact of the election on their own families and on the families of their friends and neighbors. They will understand that children worry about themselves and/or about their friends, and that Hillary’s record of fighting for children and families sets a far better example than that of a man who incites racism, sexism, and divisiveness.
I voted today. I encourage you all to vote early if you can, because as parents we know things come up at the last minute. At the very least, make a plan to vote on Tuesday as early as possible just in case something comes up later. Our children are worth it. Let’s not let them down.