Dear John      

It meant a lot to me, as a candidate for the Virginia state senate, against a party-line Republican incumbent, to attend Sunday’s annual Hispanic Festival in Harrisonburg.  I was of course aware of the traumatic impact on many of the Hispanic people there, of the recent act of domestic terrorism in El Paso by a white nationalist whose manifesto showed his mass killing was inspired by the rhetoric of the President of the United States.

I’ve heard personal stories of the fear the El Paso slaughter has created all across the United States in the Hispanic community.  If 22 innocent people were murdered in a Walmart by someone who says he wanted to kill Mexicans, how can people feel safe?  My heart went out to these people, and I wanted them to know where I stand and how that contrasts with the silence of my opponent.  

Here is what I said to the crowd at the festival:  

It is often said that elections have consequences.  These days we Americans are learning that the hard way, especially in our Hispanic community.

It’s a sad day in our history when we have a president whose main political strategy is to encourage hatred between groups of Americans.

This president shows indifference to the danger he’s causing for many vulnerable people, as we just saw in the horrible massacre in El Paso.  And it’s a sad day when practically an entire political party--the Republican Party--stays silent about the hateful kind of leadership the Republican party has given the nation.

That silence includes the man I am working to replace as your senator in the Virginia state senate.  Yes, elections have consequences. And if you elect me as your state senator, you’ll be represented by someone who believes we are ALL Americans, who believes that what makes us Americans is not our skin color or national origin, but our belief in liberty and justice for all, our belief that all human beings are created equal, and that we are all endowed with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In the America I believe in, there is no place for white supremacy!   In the America I believe in, there is no place for leadership that encourages it!

In bringing my message to that crowd, I had the most welcome help of Aymee Van Dyke, who did an outstanding job of translating my remarks into Spanish,  paragraph by paragraph, so that all could understand.

~April Moore