NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's Viral Letter to People Who Feel Scared After the Election Is Amazing
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Due to the outpouring of hate crimes committed since Donald Trump won the electoral college vote for president, it's been difficult to feel proud to be an American. But after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released this statement on Facebook on Nov. 12, I felt damn proud to be a born-and-bred resident of the Empire State.
Here's what he said in the Facebook post that has received 203K likes and 49,622 shares so far:
The state of New York has a proud legacy as the progressive capital of the nation, and that is more important today than ever before.
As New Yorkers, we have fundamentally different philosophies than what Donald Trump laid out in his campaign.
So let me be absolutely clear: If anyone feels that they are under attack, I want them to know that the state of New York — the state that has the Statue of Liberty in its harbor — is their refuge.
Whether you are gay or straight, Muslim or Christian, rich or poor, black or white or brown, we respect all people in the state of New York.
It's the very core of what we believe and who we are. But it's not just what we say, we passed laws that reflect it, and we will continue to do so, no matter what happens nationally. We won't allow a federal government that attacks immigrants to do so in our state.
We are a state of immigrants.
We are the state that raised the minimum wage to $15.
We are the state that passed Paid Family Leave.
We are the state that passed marriage equality.
We are New York, and we will stand up for you. And on that, I will never compromise.
Count on it.
If you are part of a group being targeted right now — Muslims, Latinos, those in the LGBTQ community, and more — know myself and countless other New Yorkers (who marched the streets for a week straight on your behalf!) want to offer refuge. People are even wearing safety pins to publicly pronounce themselves as allies. And in addition to us, leaders like Cuomo are standing up for social rights. The message here: have hope and faith in mankind to be good.