American actor Kal Penn has started a CrowdRise fundraiser in the name of a commenter who told him he doesn’t belong in the US.
The message appeared to be written in an Instagram post of the 39-year-old Penn, in which he spoke out about the personal effect President Donald Trumps “Muslim Ban” is having on him and his friends, reported People magazine.
“Families are being torn apart,” Penn wrote
“Shame on us. This is un-American. What Donald Trump and the Republican Party are doing is wholly unAmerican.”
His online critic responded, “you don’t belong in this country you ... joke.”
Penn, who worked in President Obama’s administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement and plays fictional White House press secretary Seth Wright on the hit ABC show Designated Survivor, was born in Montclair, New Jersey, to Gujarati immigrant parents.
Responding to the racist claims with a charity effort is an example of the love Penn sees in the United States, he said.
“We are better than the hateful people who tell us we don’t belong in our own country, that America cant be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world,” Penn wrote in the fundraisers description.
“We will turn their bigotry, along with the president’s, into love.”
Within 30 minutes of the fundraisers posting, it had already received over $5,000 in donations.
Penn’s response is just one of the many ways in which Americans are responding in opposition to president Trumps executive order, which he signed on Friday.
