The following remarks were given by ICNY’s executive director, The Rev. Chloe Breyer, at the #VETSvsHATE press conference held outside Trump Tower on Monday, August 1:
“Donald Trump’s insulting comments about Gold Star Mother Mrs. Ghazana Kahn after the Democratic Convention showed him to be both insensible to her pain and ignorant of her faith. He was insensible to her pain because his decision to make political points off the grief-stricken relatives of bereaved military parents is reminiscent of the members of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrating at military funerals. He was ignorant of her beliefs, because he insulted a religious tradition that serves as a source of power for many Muslim women around the world including Nobel Laureates Judge Shirin Ebadi and Malala. Trump, once again, showed himself to be a stumbling block in our collective American struggle for a more perfect union.
“In our ongoing endeavor to widen the scope of our democracy, there are historical scars that mar this otherwise forward-moving effort. These include, first and foremost, the slave auction blocks and plantations of the South; the railroads of the West built by exploited labor of Chinese immigrants; the SS St. Louis filled with Jewish adults and children seeking refuge from the Holocaust and turned away at American shores; and of course the concentration camps for the Japanese Americans following Pearl Harbor. It is true that not all hate speech of the sort proffered by Donald Trump results in these national pockmarks on our record. However, it is also true that historical examples of xenophobia and racism are always proceeded by demagoguery similar to that demonstrated by this year’s Republican Presidential election.
“The Interfaith Center of New York condemns the xenophobic and hate-filled attacks on Mr. and Mrs. Kahn and commends the family’s willingness to protect and exercise American values of freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and equal opportunity for all. The Kahns represent the best of our country.”