Dear Brexiteers and Leave Voters
Just so you know, I'm finding it hard to forgive you.
Hard to forgive the damage that is being done to our country by the vote you cast.
Hard to forgive the fear and sadness and racist comments that haunt our mixed-race family since you voted to leave.
Hard to forgive the rise in hate crime and the way your vote seems to have legitimised racism.
Hard to forgive the uncertainty to our economic future that leaving Europe will cause.
Hard to forgive the constant, and uneasy feeling that since that historic day in June we are teetering on the edge of chaos..
Just so you know, I'm finding it hard to forgive you.
And I'm sure you will say that it's because I don't understand.
That I don't understand the huge advantages of being financially independent from Europe.
That I don't understand that leaving Europe is the only way to stop our country from bursting at the seams with those seeking a better life.
That I don't understand that leaving Europe is the only way to save our drowning National Health and benefits system.
That I don't understand the advantages of being free from the European "ball-and-chain," That I don't understand how important it is to stand alone, to make our own decisions, to be in charge of our own destiny.
But it's that destiny that If fear the most.
And there is much that I do understand.
I understand that not everyone who voted to leave Europe is a racist or a bigot or a xenophobe.
I understand that many people, much cleverer than me, could cite a million reasons why we are financially better off out..
I understand that people were feeling disempowered by decisions made about them without them from miles away
I understand that the old system was flawed and broken.
I understand all that.
But when has a problem ever been solved by running away from it?
When has the way to mend something that is broken, ever been to leave it to rot?
The European Community was created to try and build peace and understanding, what message have we given by choosing to leave?
And I wonder.
Wonder if, on the day you cast your vote to leave, you imagined how it would actually feel for those who have become the victims of your choice.
Wonder if you truly considered all the consequences of your actions.
Wonder if you can picture our 18 year old Sri Lankan/English daughter walking down the stairs that morning, the 24th of June, trying to stop her voice from trembling as she asks
" why doesn't my country want me anymore?"
Wonder if you can hear the voice of our sixteen year old son telling us that he is going to try and study in Canada now, that he doesn't want to his future to be in a country that doesn't want him.
And I know.
I know that's probably not what you thought you were voting for.
But it's the message your vote gave to our children and thousands like them.
You were voting for the future of our country.
They thought they were its future.
You've told them they are wrong.
And I'm trying.
Trying hard to understand your motives.
Trying hard to see it from your point of view.
Trying hard to acknowledge the benefits there may be.
Trying hard to believe that good can come out of this.
But it's difficult to understand what is better about being separated not just by a sea but by an ocean of difference and indifference.
Hard to believe that anything but good can come out of learning to work together, learning to value each other cultures, learning to care about something greater than ourselves.
I suppose, in the end, all any of us can do is what we believe to be right.
And I truly hope that's why you voted the way you did.
But just so you know, on the day our son boards the plane and flies away from us into a world that is still too big for his seventeen years, I will find it very hard to forgive you for my broken heart.
With hope that the future will be better than it seems
Becky
