Hi there,

 

After Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman -- a decorated service member -- testified during the impeachment hearings, we learned the Army had ramped up his security and made contingency plans to move him to a secure location to protect him and his family from threats to his life. And Chairman Adam Schiff had to pause the hearings to warn President Trump that his tweets aimed at former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch during her impeachment testimony constituted potential “witness intimidation,” an impeachable offense itself.

 

So it’s understandable that many Americans missed the news that Trump’s Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller is without any last doubt a white supremacist.

 

Stephen Miller -- the aide behind the Muslim ban, the traumatic and ongoing family separations at the border, putting immigrant children in cages, and the administration’s plan to deport DREAMers -- spent much of 2015 and 2016 emailing Breitbart editors arguments in support of white supremacy. This included “white nationalist websites, a ‘white genocide’-themed novel in which Indian men rape white women, xenophobic conspiracy theories and eugenics-era immigration laws that Adolf Hitler lauded in ‘Mein Kampf,’” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

As Stephen Miller was emailing these racist rants, Dylann Roof had just murdered nine black churchgoers in South Carolina. But Miller was more bothered by Amazon.com’s reaction to the massacre: they’d stopped allowing Confederate flags to be sold on their platform.

 

We know what America looks like when hate and fear are given so much space to thrive. As racism and the fear of outsiders gripped our country during WWII, my immigrant grandfather as well as my American-born Japanese grandparents were forced into internment camps. They had to start their lives over in Riverside, with the scars of knowing that their country saw them as the enemy. It took a great deal of strength to rebuild, and the damage lasted for decades.

 

But they managed to hold onto their faith in America’s promise. As Trump motivates with fear, we must win back America with hope. I taught for 20 years in Riverside’s public schools, working with students of every background to help them succeed, and now I represent Riverside and the rest of California’s 41st District as the first openly gay person of color elected to Congress.

 

When I ran for Congress in 2012, as a person of color and LGBTQ+ candidate, I knew it would be harder to fundraise, get media attention, and be taken seriously as a contender. But ASPIRE supported me because they know how essential it is for diverse voices to be represented in Washington.

 

The ASPIRE team is working tirelessly to unseat GOP members who happily turn a blind eye to white nationalism and replace those backwards members with progressive candidates of color.

 

Stephen Miller, Trump, and the GOP will do everything they can to prevent more diversity in Congress, because they know that when diverse backgrounds are represented, the power of white nationalists will be diminished. But donations to ASPIRE have slowed down this week.

 

That’s why I’m writing you today.

 

I’m asking you personally to join me in supporting ASPIRE’s efforts and ensuring that people like Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and their enablers never get to set American policy again. If you think white nationalism has no place in our country, I’m asking for your donation today. If you think it’s important for Congress to reflect the diversity of America, I’m asking for your donation today. If you agree that a diverse Congress will move our country forward, I’m asking for your donation today. Your support is the only way we’ll beat the racists in the White House.

 

Here’s the link to give to elect more progressive people of color: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/aspirepac

 

I can’t thank you enough for all that you’re doing.

 

- Mark Takano