Open Letter to My Haters

[Photo by Karen Wang @kw492]

Before the weekend, I posted a very disturbing article reporting that the New York City Memorial of Beastie Boys frontman Adam Yauch had been desecrated. All of the Beastie Boys were Jewish, and Yauch’s memorial had swastikas and pro-Trump graffiti scrawled all over it.

What is perhaps more disturbing than someone desecrating the memorial site of a Jew – something that has been done in hatred for thousands of years – is the outrage that I have received because I posted this.

Some of the outrage comes from people claiming that this was done by liberal crybabies to try and blame this on Trump supporters. Some of the outrage comes from people who claim that I am egging people on by letting them know that this happened.

If you believe that liberals would do this to frame Republicans, or if you believe President Obama is a Muslim extremist or that he wasn’t born in the United States or any such related nonsense, I can’t really have a conversation with you and for that, I’m sorry for us both. No one framed anyone here. Do you know why?

I’m going to state this very plainly, America: many people in this country are racists. Many people think that the Nazi party was correct and they are part of organized organizations that seek to continue the pledges of the Nazi party for white supremacy and the elimination of minorities. Is it 50% of this country? Absolutely not. Is it enough that we should be concerned? Absolutely.

The reason that I post things like this is not to egg people on; God forbid. I don’t want to see more desecration or more hatred. I grew up with the images of lynchings and riots and protests at Kent state as the symbols of the times my parents grew up in and became civil rights activists in.

I posted this to make people aware that people are desecrating things like memorials of Jewish performers in the name of the president elect and that should disturb all of us no matter who we voted for. Anti-Semitism goes on all of the time, as does gay-bashing, racism, xenophobia, and shaming and abuse of women. Anyone who thinks that “liberal whiny brats” did this to frame conservative Republicans probably would do well to visit some of the largest cities in America where blacks, Jews, Muslims, gays, and feminist women roam freely. Talk to us and ask us what our lives are like when we go outside of our cities – and even what happens inside of them.

Don’t you think it’s time we stop pretending, America? We have problems. If you are not one of the problems, that’s great. And I’m going to keep posting about things like this to as many people as I can. Not because I’m a celebrity. But because I’m a citizen of this country. I’m the granddaughter of immigrants. I am a Jew. And I am offended and disgusted that people are doing things like this while so many of us don’t want to believe it’s really happening.

It’s happening. And we all – regardless of who we voted for – have to admit that there are some factions – no matter how small; but I fear they are bigger than any of us realized- who have been emboldened by the president-elect; a man who has yet to definitively speak out vehemently and passionately against people using his name to commit these crimes against humanity.

I continue to have an open mind and an open heart for the possibility of this administration but with every appointment, my heart sinks a bit more. If there is a message in all of this, I hope it will be that we need to talk more and understand more. We need to defend less, and stop being in denial. It’s only in this way that we can all move forward together.

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Hundreds of New Yorkers were joined by Beastie Boys member Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and actor Ben Stiller at a rally against hate speech in Brooklyn Heights. Here is some media coverage of the protest.