Below is my open letter to Governor Romney. If you’d like to watch the YouTube video of it that I quickly recorded from my home, please click here.
Dear Governor Romney,
Like every other American, I listened to your comments from the Florida fundraiser. I actually listened to them many times over because I was certain that I was hearing it wrong. While I don’t agree with your politics, I did believe that you were proud of this country and that you were someone who just wanted to do his part to make it even better. However, after listening to your comments about the American people, I realized I was mistaken. When you explained your disdain for 47% of Americans, I understood that you don’t want to help the people; you want to help those whom you deem as your people. And I am not one of them.
I grew up in a family of very few financial resources. We received certain forms of public assistance like enrollment in the free lunch program. We went without health insurance for many years. I went to college because of financial aid as my mother’s annual income was less than tuition at the school I wanted to attend (University of Pennsylvania.) I then went on to business school a number of years later at the Darden School at the University of Virginia, again with the grace of student loans, because I wanted to understand finance rather than be afraid of it.
Though I was someone who benefited from government programs, I didn’t do so because I felt entitled. I did so because I came from a family without financial means and to make this world a better place, I needed to get myself fed and educated. When I took government funds in the form of aid, I took on a tremendous responsibility to make something of myself and to bring others along with me who needed help. As I rose, I bent down, extended my hand, and helped others to rise, too.
In my career, I have worked in government, Broadway theatre management, education, nonprofit fundraising, retail management, financial services, and health and wellness. Today, I own my own consulting business and founded a nonprofit to bring the healing benefits of yoga and meditation to those in need. As an adult, I no longer receive government assistance and in fact pay taxes in the highest tax bracket, which I believe is a far higher percentage than you pay. Just because I needed financial help from the government when I was younger does not mean that I grew up to be an adult who is in your words, a “freeloader”. Because I was helped, I feel an incredibly strong need to help others, like me and far different from me.
And finally, I have a few words to say about the social justice issues you addressed in your comments. I do believe that every American has a right to healthcare, has a right to eat, and a right to be educated. I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but America has been advocating for this stance around the world since its founding. We have gone to the battlefield for these kinds of basic human rights; we have lost many good men and women for this ideal because we understand that no one is free if they’re hungry, sick, and uneducated.
I did have compassion for you upon hearing your initial comments. “Perhaps they were taken out of context,” I thought. “Maybe he was surprised and under tremendous pressure in the moment.” Then I heard your reaction to your comments, and I hung my head low because I realized I don’t have a place in your America.
Still, I do understand why it’s so hard for someone of your means to have empathy for people like me and so many other Americans. It’s hard to explain to someone what it feels like to not have enough food to eat, to be without electricity for weeks at a time because your family couldn’t afford to pay the bill, to be constantly worried that your home would go into foreclosure. You begin to think that because you don’t have enough, then you aren’t enough. It’s a fear that gets in your bones and never leaves. Even now, I am incredibly thrifty with my money. I no longer have to price check different brands of soup at the supermarket, but I do and I’m sure I will always continue to do so.
My past, the good, the bad, and the ugly, is part of who I am, and that includes the fact that I received a lot of help from the government while I was growing up. And I am grateful for it. Governor Romney, please don’t see us as a liability; instead see us as opportunity that needs a little bit of help to take root. We are a long-term bet, but we are worthy of your attention.
Sincerely yours,
Christa Avampato
Christa Avampato 