Embracing the Fight for Dignity and Inclusion
By Felix Schein
This month, the LA Times confirmed that President Trump and his administration have targeted up to 8 million people across our country for deportation. This massive shift in policy comes on the heels of the administration’s continued attempts to ban immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, and increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids taking place in every corner of America.
Our friends, neighbors and colleagues — including members of our extended RALLY family — are among the millions who could be directly targeted by Trump’s actions. RALLY would not be the firm it is today without the contributions of our employees — some of whom are immigrants and refugees. As such, Trump’s actions are more than morally reprehensible, they represent a direct threat to our business — to say nothing about the impact these actions have on our country.
RALLY enthusiastically and without hesitation embraces diversity and inclusion. We are proud of our work to support organizations, causes and leaders who are fighting to ensure our country continues to be a land of liberty and justice for all. This is not a time for silence or acquiescence. Many, from small nonprofit organizations to major corporate brands, are rightly standing up and speaking out for basic American values of dignity, equality, justice and inclusion — some for the very first time.
As a business, we have sought to define and demonstrate our values through the work that we do — and the work that we don’t. We support clients working to protect our environment from the devastating effects of climate change, and we do not do business with Big Oil or Big Coal. We support a woman’s right to access reproductive care, including abortion, and we do not work with organizations seeking to restrict that access. As progressives, we also support educational equity and are proud of the work our clients do to fight for it. Many of these causes are now under direct attack.
The policy and rhetoric coming from Washington, D.C., makes it important for us to be clear also on our position around another fundamental American value: inclusion. RALLY will not do business with those who support the denial of dignity and respect to immigrants and refugees. Not now, not ever. We will not work with clients who work to make easier the mass deportation of our family, friends and neighbors — and we actively seek opportunities to work with those who fight against it.
I’m proud of the work that our team is doing to help fight the unjust and unconstitutional detention of Daniel Ramirez Medina, a DREAMer and DACA recipient, in Tacoma, Washington. I’m proud that many on the RALLY team will take time this Friday to participate in public demonstrations of solidarity with immigrants and refugees. And I’m proud of the work we do every day at RALLY, fighting hand-in-hand with our clients, our partners and our communities for what is right: to protect the most vulnerable, and to engage the hearts and minds of those who aren’t yet with us. We are here for all of it, for the long haul, and we’re honored to be in it with you.
Felix Schein founded RALLY, a communications firm that works to influence the way people think about and respond to political and social issues.
