NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — Caribbean American congresswoman Yvette D Clarke has joined 168 members of the US House of Representatives in urging President-Elect Donald Trump to remove white nationalist sympathiser Steve Bannon from his White House team.

“I am deeply concerned about the appointment of Stephen K Bannon as Chief Strategist and Senior Counsellor to President-Elect Donald J Trump,” Clarke told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Thursday.

“Mr Bannon’s long time association with white nationalist, xenophobic, and anti-women politics has raised serious concerns that he will use his position in the federal government to undermine the best traditions of our nation and attempt to relegate women, African Americans, Latinos, Jews, Muslims, and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community to second-class citizenship.

“These are not just words,” said the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, adding that reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “demonstrate that hate crimes have already increased dramatically since Election Day – including a swastika recently painted on the sidewalk in Crown Heights.

“The threat of violent hatred has become a reality for more and more Americans,” continued Clarke, representative for the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn. “We cannot – and we will not – allow anyone to disregard our humanity and demean our existence. I urge the incoming administration to reject such vile rhetoric and urge my constituents to report suspected hate crimes to law enforcement authorities.”

In their letter to Trump, the congressional representatives said that immediately following his victory, “many Americans were optimistic and hopeful that you would take the steps necessary to unify our country following the divisive and contentious election.

“In your election night speech, you said, ‘now, it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division. It is time for us to come together as one united people’,” the congressional representative writes.

“Unfortunately, your appointment of Stephen Bannon, whose ties to the White Nationalist movement have been well-documented, directly undermines your ability to unite the country. As elected representatives of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds, religions, and ethnicities, we strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to appoint Mr Bannon to White House Chief Strategist.”

The members of the US Congress said that Bannon’s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in xenophobic, racist and discriminatory activities, “indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your Administration.”

The congress members said that millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump Administration, adding that Trump’s appointment Bannon “only exacerbates and validates their concerns.”