Humans of New York creator, Brandon Stanton, wrote an open letter to Donald Trump that is going viral.
Brandon Stanton, the creative genius behind Humans of New York, broke his political silence in the wake of the rise of Trump because, as he says, “I realize now that there is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now.”
Stanton has long remained neutral when it comes to his subjects’ stories and points of view when interviewing them, allowing the people he photographs to tell their own stories. He has served the streets of New York City but also done tours with the UN to interview refugees in several Middle Eastern nations and even those awaiting their new homes in the United States, as his letter mentions. The stories he publishes, accompanied with telling photographs, have not only been read by millions of followers but they have strongly affected those who can relate to the subjects and opened the mind of many who didn’t know so many issues are faced by other people daily.
Oftentimes readers are inspired by the stories and ask if there is any way that they can help, and Brandon is able to connect these humans to great resources. Humans of New York famously aided in raising $1 million for a school in Brooklyn with low-income students to visit Harvard annually, host a summer program, and start a scholarship fund. This all began when Stanton interviewed a student at that school and asked him who inspires him, to which the student replied that his own principal inspired him. HONY also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Syrian refugee families entering the U.S. and $2 million to an organization in Pakistan that is actively working to end forced labor.
To say that Stanton is well-qualified enough to remark on the rise of Trump and how Trump himself is the hateful, hurtful one would be an understatement. Stanton’s efforts more than speak for themselves, and it appears as though this photo-journalist turned activist simply couldn’t remain silent for long. Read below for the full open letter to Donald Trump:
An Open Letter to Donald Trump:Mr. Trump,I try my hardest not to be political. I’ve refused to interview several of…
Posted by Humans of New York on Monday, March 14, 2016
“I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one,” Stanton wrote.
Stanton also called Trump out for retweeting hateful users on Twitter, holding off on speaking out against the Ku Klux Klan, and promoting a wildly aggressive approach to terrorism.
Brandon Stanton, the creator of popular Facebook page Humans of New York, published a viral scathing open letter to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday.
Stanton, a photojournalist who has more than 17 million Facebook fans, wrote that he tries his “hardest not to be political” but felt compelled to speak out against Trump, whose rally in Chicago was canceled last weekend due to chaos and violence among the crowd.
“I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one,” Stanton wrote.
Stanton also called Trump out for retweeting hateful users on Twitter, holding off on speaking out against the Ku Klux Klan, and promoting a wildly aggressive approach to terrorism.
“I’ve watched you retweet racist images. I’ve watched you retweet racist lies. I’ve watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy. I’ve watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to ‘pay the legal fees’ of those who commit violence on your behalf. I’ve watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists’ families. I’ve watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I’ve watched you compare refugees to ‘snakes,’ and claim that ‘Islam hates us.'”
AP/REIRI KURIHARA – APIMAGES.COM
Stanton concluded that the “hateful one” is Trump after doing extensive interviews with Muslims and refugees over the past few years. This is an apparent reference to Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. last year.
“Those of us who have been paying attention will not allow you to rebrand yourself. You are not a ‘unifier,'” Stanton wrote. “You are not ‘presidential.’ You are not a ‘victim’ of the very anger that you’ve joyfully enflamed for months. You are a man who has encouraged prejudice and violence in the pursuit of personal power. And though your words will no doubt change over the next few months, you will always remain who you are.”
Stanton’s post already has nearly 330,000 reactions as of writing time and garnered ample love from fans:
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“I’ve watched you retweet racist images.”
Liar. The retweeted image was not racist. The original tweeter might’ve been, but Trump would’ve had no idea about that.
“I’ve watched you retweet racist lies.”
To state that blacks kill more blacks that police is not racist, it’s true. It is in fact racist for an imbecile like you to ignore the huge government-fomented problem of black on black crime. And to assume Trump deliberately retweeted inaccurate statistics is moronic. You are projecting your own prejudice on him, like the retard that you are.
“I’ve watched you take 48 hours to disavow white supremacy.”
Now you’re just being stupid. Trump disavowed Duke immediately, but it wasn’t good enough for the Media, who kept hounding him for days until the story got old. The fact that you get your news from late night TV comedy proves you’re not a real journalist.
“I’ve watched you joyfully encourage violence, and promise to ‘pay the legal fees’ of those who commit violence on your behalf.”
Liar. Telling a crowd to retaliate against a violent agitator is not inciting violence–it’s reacting to violence with violence. That’s something you a^^-holes can’t stand–conservatives defending themselves.
“I’ve watched you advocate the use of torture and the murder of terrorists’ families.”
You finally got one right. That was bad.
“I’ve watched you gleefully tell stories of executing Muslims with bullets dipped in pig blood. I’ve watched you compare refugees to ‘snakes,’ and claim that ‘Islam hates us.’”
In case you’ve never read the Koran, Muslims are called to kill or enslave everyone on Earth who isn’t a Muslim. Trump is expressing the anger all free Americans feel when our government caters to people who want to murder us. Is it the proper way to react? No. But is it understandable? Absolutely. So you can take your fake self-righteous BS and shove it up your tail pipe.
You’re the ultimate straw man. By the way Muslim is not a religion. Also, have you read the Christian/Catholic Bible? The ignorance is strong in you.
I made a mistake Muslim is a religion. Meant Islam. Either way the point is not everyone who is a Muslim believes in murder. The Koran teaches peace and love just like the Christian/Catholic Bible. It all depends how the reader interprets it.
In fact it’s kind of like Donald Trump. His supporters all believe in something different and are willing to ignore all of his bad qualities in favour of that one good quality.
Mr.devon
The problem is, that trump does not distinguish between Muslim and Isis. Terrorism and religion. And there IS a difference. But maby, if you notice, that isis is targeting Muslims much more then anyone else, you will notice that the difference is real and all deciding.
Please note that you are using the very aggressive and hateful speech, trump was called out for. We are living in a time of radicalisation, and Fox news is trying its hardest to push the violence further. Please take a step back, and notice that trump is the world’s new Hitler.
Why is it so difficult to read any of your pages? Things keep popping up.
This is a non-story. Mr. “open letter” needs to check the facts. Sounds like he gets his information from Megan Kelly and Rachel Maddow (MadCow). How embarrassing …
I wonder, has this man ever went and sat with any of our disabled veterans? You know the ones who have been fighting over in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc? Ask them what they think about bringing in these refugees? They more than us should know how tolerant these people are? Why not bring in the Christian Syrians?