Our country needs a president who is a strong leader for justice and who strives to bring us together. I believe Sen. Bernie Sanders is the president this country needs.

Sunday evening Sen. Sanders celebrated Hanukkah in Des Moines by wearing a kippah while lighting the final candle of the menorah. Bernie spoke of unity: “In this country we are going to bring our people together and not allow ourselves to be divided up.”

Sanders unites people based on America’s core values of justice, freedom and religious freedom for all people regardless of color of skin, religion or country of origin. At Sunday’s event, he spoke of people trying to divide us up. Bernie understands this division all too well. His father came to this country from Poland fleeing anti-Semitism and violence. Sanders has shared that his father’s family was “wiped out” during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

Sanders’ leadership is exactly what we need. Hate crime violence rose to a 16-year high in 2018. There has been a rise in anti-Semetic violence including five Hasidic Jews being stabbed at a rabbi’s home in New York City on Saturday. In early December, an Iowan woman ran down two minority children with her car. Enough is enough.

It is time for our country to come together. We need a leader who believes, as Sanders does, that “what makes our country great, is our diversity and our willingness to work and live together regardless of the color of our skin or our religion or where we come from.”

Angie Hanson

Albert Lea