The hateful one is you: Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York pens an open letter to Donald Trump
Brandon Stanton, the human behind Humans of New York rejected Donald Trump's Islamophobic rhetoric and slammed him for his racist views.
“I am a journalist, Mr. Trump. And over the last two years I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan…And I can confirm— the hateful one is you,” Brandon Stanton — of Humans of New York fame — said in an open letter to US presidential race front-runner Donald Trump. (Source: Brandon Stanton via Twitter)
The human behind Humans of New York — journalist and photographer Brandon Stanton — penned an open letter to US presidential race front-runner Donald Trump, criticising his philosophies and citing why he morally rejects his campaign. He slams Donald Trump by saying “you are not ‘presidential’.”
Stanton begins by elaborating over a moral and political dilemma he faced in his work as a journalist, one which was ultimately resolved by the thought, “I realize now that there is no correct time to oppose violence and prejudice. The time is always now. Because along with millions of Americans, I’ve come to realize that opposing you is no longer a political decision. It is a moral one.”
He highlights Trump’s underlying racist tendencies, “I’ve watched you retweet racist images. I’ve watched you retweet racist lies….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’.”
Read the full text of Stanton’s letter here.
Stanton pens a moving paragraph, calling him out on his hateful behaviour, “I am a journalist, Mr. Trump. And over the last two years I have conducted extensive interviews with hundreds of Muslims, chosen at random, on the streets of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan. I’ve also interviewed hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees across seven different countries. And I can confirm— the hateful one is you.”
Stanton wraps up by saying, “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 letter has been liked by over 1.5 million people so far on Facebook; and liked and retweeted about 30,000 times each on Twitter. Amid extreme reactions to Trump’s controversial and racist comments over the past couple of weeks, this letter has received an overwhelmingly positive response, with people welcoming Stanton’s views as timely. One Twitter user said, “As a daughter of a Pakistani Muslim man who has nothing but love in his heart, I say thank you.” Another tweeted, “you are a true hero. You deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.”
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