SPEAKING OUT

“First they came for the socialists,

 and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

  Then they came for the trade unionists,

 and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

  Then they came for the Jews,

 and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

  Then they came for me,

 and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller

Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984) was a German anti-Hitler theologian and Lutheran pastor.

“It’s impossible to believe all these things, even though they are true. Yesterday I saw 2 of these beasts in the tram. They were holding whips in their hands when they came out of the ghetto. I’d like to throw those dogs under the tram. What cowards we are, wanting to be better and allowing all this to happen. For this, we too will be punished, and our innocent children after us, because in allowing these evil deeds to occur, we are partners to the guilt.” 

Wilhelm Hosenfeld (2 May 1895 – 13 August 1952), was a German Army officer who rose to the rank of Hauptmann. He helped to hide or rescue several Poles, including Jews, in German-occupied Poland. Hosenfeld survived the war, but died in Soviet captivity on 13 August 1952, from injury possibly sustained during torture.

Wilhelm Hosenfeld

Above are two examples of fear and loathing to speak out against selective prejudice. The first quote is uncertain as to who said it and the second, Hosenfeld, is not. We are illustrating another time and place, but we could easily cast ourselves today and understand what is being said.

Or democracy is at risk. We know it and we seem reluctant to preserve it. The Republican Party has donned the sheep’s persona and the wolf’s appetite. The Republican backers are rolling over for Trump, as he obstructs justice, and breaks the laws of good governance. We fear speaking up as people. There is prejudice there they will not openly admit, will deny it, and will abet and enable the crimes the President is committing.