(Publisher Note: Not only do I FULLY CONCUR with every word Kimberly has written, I stand behind her and this article!)

By Kimberly Palermo

Almost one year ago today, on November 8th, 2016, Americans voted for our next president. I watched in horror, as my fellow Americans voted away their neighbor’s human and civil rights.

Was it all for the “promise” of a few extra bucks or was it a backlash from having had a black president for eight years in a nation that, in many parts, still proudly flies the Confederate flag? We will likely never know what caused almost solely white Americans to vote for a man with zero political experience and a background plagued with racist, bigoted ideology, litigiousness, misogyny, and elitism. I was in total shock. For me, casting a presidential vote is NOT about political party. Sure, there are big-ticket items like taxes, abortion, the death penalty, etc. But that’s never been the end all for me.

The way I see it, there are thousands of decisions that a president will make, that I will have absolutely no knowledge of. I vote for a candidate who will uphold my personal values in general… not my personal interests, but my values. For me, the only question is: Will the next president choose humanism and integrity over all else, even when no one is watching?

One full year later, I must say, Trump has exceeded all my expectations. His choices of profit over humanism and divisiveness over unity, as well as his unbridled racism and bigotry have been surreal. The man has done the impossible… He has made me embarrassed to be a member of the human race.

But today, my anger and outrage are not directed at Trump. He is but one unconscionable man. Today, I am writing to the people who had the power to stop him, but chose not to. The people who allowed an inhumane, lying, racist, bigoted man, with zero personal integrity, to take control of our national government and infiltrate our nation’s highest office… A man who lies so much, I’m fairly certain, he doesn’t even know he’s doing it…

YES, I’m furious at the Republican politicians. They allowed this to happen. They gave him the green light to take us back decades. When so many people have given the ultimate sacrifice… not to have more than what others have, but just for the chance at equality. I’m furious at the supposed “checks and balances” who sold their soul and supported a monster. Below is the letter I wrote to them, expressing my complete lack of understanding. I do not know how they could they allow this to happen.

Dear politicians who support Trump,

I’m writing to you today, to ask you some really tough questions. But first, I want to start by telling you who I am. When I was 13 years old, a kid in my Algebra 1 class stole the final exam off the teacher’s desk. Every one of the kids took a copy except me. Not surprisingly, the class did very well and the test wasn’t curved. Unofficial final grades were handed out and my grade had dropped from a solid A to a B+.

I was an extremely shy child, but my outrage (I was shaking actually) and devastation at the unfairness of the situation helped me gather my courage and have a meeting with the teacher. I told him what happened, but he said there was nothing he could do. He told me he would not give me an “A” unless I earned it and that I hadn’t. Just as I was leaving, (I’m fairly certain I made no eye contact whatsoever with him) he said, he would let me take the entire second semester of Algebra 1 over as a sophomore. He told me that if I got an A, he would change my final grade. I knew it would be humiliating because, of course, everyone would think I flunked or something. But I knew what I had to do. I did it, and I earned my A.

You may wonder why I’m telling you this story. I’m telling you, because, at the time, I NEVER thought my behavior was particularly special… At the time, I never thought I deserved credit for my morality and I still don’t. I was just kind of born wanting to do the “right thing.” I didn’t have to work particularly hard at it. It wasn’t some great sacrifice. There was no extended soul searching involved.

For me, the ultimate integrity was doing the right thing, even when I probably didn’t have to. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the thought crossed my mind that I might fail if I didn’t cheat with the other kids…maybe that low grade would be the reason I didn’t make it to my dream college. But I knew, my personal integrity was worth more than any dream college. Plus, there is no way in hell I’d have gotten away with it like the other kids did. BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE KNOWN.

High school wasn’t exactly a high point of my life. The summer before freshman year, I was grabbing pizza at a local “hangout” with my very best friend… my only friend. (My parents had moved 6 times before age 12 and shy kids don’t make friends too easily.) Two girls approached us and asked if we wanted to go “do drugs” at their house. My friend immediately said yes. She left with them and I walked home alone. At the time, I didn’t know this but that moment turned out to be a rather pivotal point in my young life. I ate alone in the library at lunchtime every single day for the next four years of high school.

Last story and I promise to get to my point.

Every day at high school tennis practice, the coach would have the girls run a lap around the big gymnasium to warm up. And at every single practice, the moment our coach was out of sight, the girls would stop, turn around, and just run back. They never quite made it around the old gymnasium. How do I know this? Because I ran it every single time by myself. That coach must have really thought I was one slow runner, being dead last every single day for four whole years! You may wonder how it felt to be last every single time and not be able to explain why.

Maybe you think it didn’t bother me that much. If you know anything about teenage girls, you’ll know it did. The truth was, I really liked the coach and I was crushed thinking he would think I wasn’t trying or was just plain slow. I could have cared less what the girls thought. I mean, if their personal integrity was worth shaving 7 minutes off a run and making the coach a fool… that was their thing.

Not a word was ever spoken about the “cheating” during those four years I played tennis for my high school. I never said a word and to this day, I don’t know if my coach even knew. BUT YOU SEE, I KNEW.

Mr/Mrs. Politician, You may wonder why I want you to know who I am… It’s because I desperately want to understand WHO YOU ARE because I don’t get it. So… I’m gonna stop with the stories… and just get to the point. I’m writing to you to ask you why?

I’m writing to you to ask exactly WHAT would this monster, Trump have to do for you to decide that he had crossed your “moral” line of right and wrong? Exactly what is it that stopped you from doing the right thing the first time you witnessed or heard Trump say or do something unconscionable? How about the second time? The third? What was it about you that made a naïve twelve-year-old girl have more personal integrity in her pinky, than an elected politician for the United States of America has in their entire body? Am I just naïve? Am I just still childlike in my thinking to expect that our politicians should actually be people of unwavering integrity and humanism; people to revere for their desire to “serve the people” by speaking for the voiceless and standing up for what is right?

What excuses or denials did you tell yourself each and every time you DID NOTHING to stop Trump from fulfilling the inhumane campaign promises he made to his own constituents? What was it about you that made you so incredibly willing to support a hateful, racist, bigoted, lying, elitist, misogynist… a man who would try to ban Muslims, end sick people’s healthcare, take money out of public schools, propose laws that would target people of color, allow known pollutants back into the air we breathe, end free lunches for poor kids and elderly, stop protecting endangered species, call rape a pre-existing condition while simultaneously perpetuating rape culture himself, and knowingly harm the most venerable members of American society? What made you a spineless follower with no backbone to stand up for what’s right?

Because let me tell you, as an adult, watching this, I waited. I waited for you and waited for you and finally acquiesced… I acquiesced to the idea that you were never going to stand up for what is right. What was the exact price you paid for selling your soul? Was it worth it? Will you be sitting back doing the “rocking chair” test one day as an elderly person… reflecting on who you are as a human being and be filled with disgust and regret…? People who counted on their politician to do what’s right… I thought politicians were supposed to DO THE RIGHT THING. Sure you have to make the hard choices but in the end you are expected to do the right thing anyway, aren’t you?

I truly must know how you live with yourself… And what on earth do you tell your daughters… or your sons…. when you talk to them about their own personal integrity? If you could just speak the truth… I imagine it goes something like this… I had the chance to stand up for what is right. I had the chance to stand up for every historically marginalized group that Trump threatened and vowed to crush when he became president… I had the chance to do the “RIGHT THING.” But I didn’t. I sold my soul for the chance at keeping power… I turned my back on real human beings who deserve so much better.

Don’t tell me you’ve bought into Trump-ism and believe that people who don’t have good paying jobs are less deserving of healthcare than those that do. Don’t tell me you truly believe that Muslim Americans should be bullied in the streets of America. Don’t tell me that you truly believe humans who were born LGBTQ deserve to commit suicide from the self-hatred and depression you uphold through societal loathing/ ignorance. Don’t tell me that you truly don’t know what REALLY caused inner city poverty or that you believe it’s each person’s own fault if they’re poor and can’t pull themselves out. Ever hear of red-lining? White-washed history? Jim Crowe? Black Codes? The Devil’s Punchbowl? Black Wall Street? Don’t tell me that the Black, brown, and indigenous people are undeserving of equality and justice for all.

Don’t tell me, I just don’t understand the pressure of politics. And don’t tell me you’re not selling your soul, following a monster, all for the chance at a few extra bucks and I don’t know what else…. You had the chance to do great things… to be amazing… to stand up for what is right… for god sake, to stand up for “liberty and justice for ALL” … to be a real HERO to the people of our nation…. to help our nation reach towards its potential… to be a leader of humanity not a DESTROYER. But instead you chose greed over humanity… power over people.
It’s your turn. I’m done. Tell me why a teenage girl knew what it meant to do the right thing and you don’t?

Sincerely,

Someone you helped lose faith in humanity

Check out Kimberly’s YouTube Channel: End Racism, Bigotry, & Inequality In Our Lifetime

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