Local elected leaders have issued an open letter to residents following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, which came as a surprise to many last Tuesday night.
Protests have erupted across the country in the wake of Trump’s election and there have been reports of attacks being carried out by Trump supporters against minorities. These reports have been so prevalent that the president-elect addressed the incidents on CBS’ 60 Minutes in his first interview since the election. Trump looked directly into the camera and told those carrying out these acts in his name, “Stop it.”
Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners Earl McKee and Mayors from Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough wrote in a letter released on Monday that the election had caused them to reflect “on what our country’s presidential election will mean for our communities.”
The letter says the local leaders have heard that some residents had “been the victims of racial, religious and homophobic slurs since the election.”
“Perhaps this is an outgrowth from the recent inflammatory campaign season, but let us be clear: this type of harassment has no place in our county or our towns, and will not be tolerated. Any residents that are the victims of this type of behavior should call 911 immediately and report these incidents to our law enforcement agencies,” the letter continues.
The letter seems to also attempt to serve as a reassurance that local elected officials will continue working to “hold true to our values.”
Leaders wrote, “We value and embrace our immigrant residents. We advocate for non-discrimination and equality for our LGBT residents. We acknowledge the reality of climate change and believe we need to take steps to protect the future of our planet. We support efforts to provide health care to all citizens. We believe guns need to be regulated in a commonsense fashion to protect the safety of our community. We believe no one should feel unsafe in our community because of their gender, religion, ethnicity, or cultural heritage. We stand against bullying, harassment, and assault for any reason.”
The letter says leaders do have “concerns” about how these issues will be handled nationally under President-elect Trump and “how they might impact us on the local level under the new presidential administration.”
The letter put an emphasis on now being a time to “listen to each other and pay special attention to our values of inclusiveness and respect.” And officials encouraged residents to “work hard and keep advocating for our very important community values.”
You can read the entire letter below:
Like many, since Election Day we have reflected on what our country’s presidential election will mean for our communities.
Many of the core community values under which our elected boards operate could be affected by the result of this presidential election. We value and embrace our immigrant residents. We advocate for non-discrimination and equality for our LGBT residents. We acknowledge the reality of climate change and believe we need to take steps to protect the future of our planet. We support efforts to provide health care to all citizens. We believe guns need to be regulated in a commonsense fashion to protect the safety of our community. We believe no one should feel unsafe in our community because of their gender, religion, ethnicity, or cultural heritage. We stand against bullying, harassment, and assault for any reason. And because we care about these very important issues that have been so prominent in the recent election campaign, we understandably have concern as to how they might impact us on the local level under the new presidential administration.
As your elected leaders, we have heard from several residents who want reassurance from our local governing bodies that we will hold true to our values. We assure you that we and our colleagues will.
We have also heard that some residents have been the victims of racial, religious and homophobic slurs since the election. Perhaps this is an outgrowth from the recent inflammatory campaign season, but let us be clear: this type of harassment has no place in our county or our towns, and will not be tolerated. Any residents that are the victims of this type of behavior should call 911 immediately and report these incidents to our law enforcement agencies.
As we move forward with this transition, we need to listen to each other and pay special attention to our values of inclusiveness and respect. This is the way democracy works in our country, and we believe this ultimately makes us a stronger nation. In the meanwhile, we all need to work hard and keep advocating for our very important community values.
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