Dear Congressman Zeldin,
The other day I came across an interesting post written and shared by you on social media. It started out innocently enough with your expression of gratitude to your friends and family for the warm birthday wishes that you had received throughout the day. Unfortunately, what caught my attention most was the final line of your post - the line that read “love you all…even you Hillary supporters who have lost your beautiful minds since the election.” I was taken back by such an insensitive comment and had to go back to the beginning of your post to make sure the age you gave at the start was actually 37 years old! 37 year old adults know, at least should know, that a statement such as that is inappropriate from a person who holds the position and stature that you do.
I have always believed that an elected official, at least a responsible one, takes it upon themselves to represent ALL of their constituents - the ones who voted for him as well as the ones who didn’t. Imagine my shock in realizing that my Congressman was attempting to degrade and belittle those with whom he disagrees, including his own constituents whom he has sworn an oath to serve. I have called your offices to express my anger and disappointment, but at the end of the day I realize that nothing I say will make you understand how hurtful such a comment was; that regardless of whether you intended your post in jest, the truth of the matter is that you exhibited an unfortunate lack of empathy, and that you used your position and platform to put people down rather than to help lift them up. That is not leadership. It is not what you have been taught throughout your life and your career and it is most certainly not the lessons that you claim to want to pass along to future generations. Perhaps some of us have “lost our beautiful minds” after the election, but what is equally likely is that individuals such as yourself are making it increasingly difficult to trust the intentions of a government – our government – by deliberately attempting to make us feel as if our voices don’t matter.
Many Americans, and many of your constituents, are genuinely afraid of what lies ahead for us and our families. The uncertainty being created by every decision the President makes and by the votes you and your Republican colleagues cast have real-life implications. Yes, we are losing our minds because we don’t actually know what you mean when you say you will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. People like my mother, who finally have affordable insurance as a result of that law, are now unsure of what your promises will bring. Yes, we are losing our minds when we see our great country, which once stood as a beacon of hope for so many, including my parents who emigrated here in the '60s from the Dominican Republic, has now closed its doors to those immigrants who are suffering the most. Yes, we are losing our minds, when a woman’s constitutional right to make decisions about her own body is in danger. Yes, we are losing our minds not knowing what will happen to the thousands of young people, who by no fault of their own are living in this country without documentation. They have grown up knowing just one flag and one country as their own, but are now once again forced to live under a cloud of uncertainty in the country they love. Yes, we are losing our minds when an individual, who instead of uniting the citizens of this country during his campaign, sent a message of hate, humiliation, ridicule, and divisiveness - promoting an environment where Americans are taught to fear their neighbor, rather than to love him. I guess your post shouldn’t have surprised me since it is right out of the political playbook of your hero, Donald J Trump. I hoped that you would rise above such juvenile behavior, but your recent post as well as a complete lack of remorse for it, has proven me wrong.
In the end, we “Hillary supporters” will be ok regardless of how you may see us or how you may want to attack us via social media. We will be ok because, unlike yourself, we will continue to promote a message of love and unity. We will continue to stand up for what we think is, and what we know to be, right - even if you believe it is merely a reflection of our “insanity”. In the end, I actually prefer to be viewed by you and others like you as being crazy, so long as it means that I will protect and stand up for my Muslim brothers and sisters. I will gladly embrace your depiction of me losing my mind, if it means that I will stand up to the idea that women are commodities with which men can do whatever they please. You can openly dismiss me as being nuts, if it means that I will protest against the hatred and fear-mongering that demonizes immigrants in a way that is not only hypocritical to our past, but counter-productive to our collective future. You can label me deranged, if it means that I will continue to protest and to speak out against an administration that endangers both the American people as well as the most sacred of our values. You can believe in your head that I am foolish or demented or any other words that you may choose, so long as you are not foolish enough yourself to believe that I am ever going to stop!
This is not who we are as a country or as a people, and even though you hold (for the time being) a position of representing and speaking on our behalf, I will state right here and right now, that you sir, do not and never will speak for me.
The Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “There are going to be frustrations in life. The question is not: How do I escape? It is: How can I use this as something positive?” My positive response to your ridicule will be to offer my time and energy to help the very individuals and groups that this government is trying to shut out. I will donate to organizations like the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and Carry the Future who dedicate themselves to the well-being of others, rather than work endlessly to promote themselves. I will show up to peaceful rallies and marches to demonstrate the power of my voice, and above all else I will cast a watchful eye upon my elected representatives. It is the constitutional right of the people to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances”, and you should feel most confident that with every vote you cast or every action you take that I believe is against the best interest of those who you claim to represent, I will be doing so. You have woken a sleeping giant, and with mid-term elections not far away, we “Hillary supporters” will set our beautiful minds to the singular task of finding a man or woman who will serve as a true representative to ALL of the people of the 1st Congressional district.
Most respectfully,
Your constituent
