An Open Letter to the Honorable Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama:
Why I Will #BoycottAlabama Until Roy Moore is Not Elected
State Capitol, 600 Dexter Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36130
Dear Governor Ivey -
This has been a tremendously hard year for our great nation. We are a house divided, held together only by the thread of hope and foundation of self-belief that if we survived as a democracy for 241 years, we can hold on a little longer until we can bring some sanity and leadership back to Washington.
But today it is about Alabama.
Molesting children is not OK.
As a result, I have decided to #BoycottAlabama until this is resolved.
I was stunned you chose to ignore the women of Alabama who have spoken out against Judge Moore, thinking somehow that party or loyalty are more important than the possibility that you might be electing someone who repeatedly molested, threatened or behaved inappropriately first with a child and then with multiple teenage girls.
Unless you are conducting an investigation of your own, I’m not sure where you expect “more information” to come from between now and the election. The system is rigged against situations like this.
In a democracy we expect our elected leaders to hear us. In a democracy we must speak up. If we don’t speak up, how can we be heard?
So I am speaking up.
I am inspired to do so by all these women who have come forward to tell their stories and help us see why people like Judge Moore must be investigated and held accountable, even if the law does not allow a mechanism and before he has the chance to be seated in the hallowed chamber of the United States Senate.
Sexually assaulting children crosses the line. Don’t let that get lost in all the politics. If the charges are not true, investigate and find out.
But the cost of not finding out… of knowingly allowing a child molester a seat in the Senate of the United States?
It’s just not worth it.
You may want to keep the seat for the Republicans. You may not like Doug Jones. You may be personal friends with Roy and Kayla Moore. You may not care that your personal legacy which could be incredible (as a woman, you have achieved the highest office in the entire state) is now permanently connected with alleged child sexual assaulter Roy Moore.
Whatever your reason, you are now on not just the wrong side of history but the wrong side of ethics. As an elected leader, people expect and deserve better. We look to our leaders in times of crisis to guide us, to choose right over wrong, to choose justice over cruelty, to support the oppressed when they are abused by the powerful.
You have chosen to do the opposite, to cave in instead of to lead.
I respect the people of Alabama, and I respect their ability to elect their own leaders who will represent them in a way that is most relevant. But this is not just a seat whose occupant will impact Alabama. It will impact all of America.
The more I listen to the stories of these women, the more I believe them. They have nothing to gain from this. They do not have political agendas to advance. They don’t like being in the spotlight. They say they voted for Trump. They have lived in Alabama all their lives. They are being shamed and questioned and embarrassed and they are taking a risk in speaking up. Why did they do this? Someone finally asked. They are speaking up because they have a sense of the greater good and they want to finally do something to stop the people in power from being able to get away with this kind of thing.
The more I listen and look into the way this story broke, the more I respect the reporting and the reporters. They did not go to Alabama to stir up trouble. They went to Alabama to learn more about the candidate who is running for one of the most precious positions in the entire United States. They did not go to Alabama to make up stories. They went to learn and carefully share the truth and they stumbled upon this dark, not-very-well hidden embarrassing situation.
All the rest of us can immediately do is to is know that the people of Alabama are far better than the candidates the Republican Party selected (before this information was public) to be their nominee and encourage our friends there to vote.
But what we can do tomorrow and next week and next year and in the next decade is to not come to your state and spend our tourist dollars, not visit your state for business, not invest in your state with our companies, and not move to your state with our families. As the governor, I expect that part of your desire is to create jobs and bigger opportunity for your state. By choosing to support Roy Moore you have done the opposite.
The statute of limitations on his alleged crimes might have expired but the statute of limitations on ethics never expires.
I’m quite sure crimes like this against a child impacts that child for the rest of her life.
All I have is the economic power of one individual, but I can tell you I will not set foot in or spend one penny in your state nor will I be purchasing products from any companies based in Alabama until this election is over and Roy Moore is not elected. Between now and then, that is a direct result of your decision to support and vote for him despite having “no reason to disbelieve” the women. After that, it’s up to the people of Alabama.
This Thanksgiving, I am grateful to live in a democracy where the forces of good, while buried, still run strong beneath the surface. I am grateful for and counting on the legions of decent and good people in Alabama to come together with their votes and find a better Republican alternative or vote for someone else, and I am counting on the rest of this country to say enough is enough and decide to #BoycottAlabama until we know for sure that there is no place for Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate.
Sincerely.
Jane
P.S. Here are some helpful links so people can find out where not to do business:
