Dear Sir,
Re: Kelly Hayes-Raitt’s letter in the January 21-27 edition of the Guadalajara Reporter.
As I was not a part of the march committee (at that point) that invited Kelly Hayes-Raitt to help with the campaign or was privy as to why she left, I can speak only for myself and want to dispute much of what she wrote in her letter.
I would have been against her participation because she made conditions on her participation while everyone else gave freely of their time and energies. She also made many errors in her letter in characterizing the committee, the march and the feelings of the Mexican people. I think given the fact that 2.5 million people marched all over the world belies what she has said.
Kelly, you characterized the March as anti-American and nothing could be farther from the truth. The truth is that people are afraid that their country is going to go backwards in time in terms of liberties and justice, and they are afraid of living in a totalitarian regime.
Far from rallying against their country, as you so wrongly wrote, they are rallying for their country and are extremely patriotic.
The fact is that you have misjudged the anger the American people have for Trump and his policies and his appointments to key cabinet positions.
And, if I can remember, you do not speak Spanish, so I am not sure how you can speak with such authority about what the Mexican people think about Donald Trump.
The fact is that they are as afraid of him as we all are and if you had engaged in extended conversations, in Spanish, with them, you would have gleaned that. As for your Mexican friends, I would like to point out that it takes many years to cultivate those kinds of friendships here where people are open about their true thoughts and feelings. With all due respect Kelly, you are not a full-time resident of Mexico nor have been here very long.
The fact is that Mexicans remember his rants about their countrymen being rapists and criminals and about building a wall that cuts them off from families and friends and, in general, treating them like some kind of criminal sub-species. They also worry about trade agreements, like NAFTA, that he wants to dissolve and his attempts to damage the Mexican economy by persuading companies not to have manufacturing plants here.
The fact is that they do worry about their families in the United States, and that many will be unreasonably deported, leaving them with no homes and no jobs to come back to here. In many cases that will leave children to decide whether to follow their families home and leave a country they are citizens of, to a land where many don’t even speak the language.
The fact is that Mexicans try to be polite and in being polite, they will appear to agree with what you say. So, if you tell them that you think the march is wrong, they will nod politely and agree with you. But that is not what they believe.
I have found that Mexican friends who ask me very tentatively what I think are relieved when I explain how angry I and all my friends are. And then, and only then, do they express their true feelings and fears.
The fact is that the majority of Mexicans were horribly angry with President Enrique Peña Nieto when he spoke so softly with then candidate Trump and didn’t take him on forcefully for his positions against Mexico.
As for the slogan, The Backlash Begins, that was a statement made by Bernie Sanders and if you had fact checked, you would have seen that it certainly does not relate to violence, but instead to start organizing against Trump’s policies.
As for the piñatas, a symbolic burning had been discussed at one time before you joined the campaign (against policies, not violence against a person) but had been disbanded in favor of putting good thoughts into the piñata, like End Racism, End Bigotry or Don’t Deny Climate Change, etcetera.
I do applaud, however, any effort you make to change the Electoral College because almost three million more people voted for Hillary Clinton than for Trump. Add the seven million more who voted for other parties, and that makes ten million Americans who did not vote for Trump.
Jill Flyer