Dear Mr. President: An Open Letter from Russell Simmons

Dear Mr. President,

It was a sad day in America yesterday. One of our nation’s heroes was told he was not allowed to do his job of protecting our country because of his sexual orientation. Lt. Dan Choi honorably served this nation at war in Iraq and now, at great misfortune, has become a casualty of war that still rages in our homeland; the war for equal rights for all Americans. For the sake of your legacy and the legacy of one of our nation’s greatest attributes, its tolerance of diversity, Mr. President, it is now the time to put the security of our nation first over the intolerance of others and re-instate Lt. Choi to his National Guard duties.

One day we will look back and realize how incredible your accomplishments have been. We will look back, as we have done on the abolition of slavery, the women’s right to vote, the civil rights movement, the mission to put a man on the moon, and so many other critical moments in the history of our country and realize that your compassion for all of humanity was a gift we fully appreciated.  We will look back at these first eighteen months of your presidency and recognize the sacrifices you have made to ensure that every Americans’ future is bright, not just those that voted for you on November 4th, 2008. We will say that we cannot believe that we passed healthcare reform.  We cannot believe that we passed financial reform. We cannot believe that we appointed the first Latina Justice to the Supreme Court. We cannot believe that we gave cash for clunkers! Ok, we can believe that. But, in all seriousness, Mr. President, your accomplishments are tremendous and when we look back, we will be proud of the work that we have done.