By Jamilah Hoffman, 9/23/06
If we saw the Nazi party building up, if we saw Adolf Hitler
rise to power, if we saw civil liberties taken away and whole peoples
discriminated against and killed; would we stop it? “Of course we
would,” we’d all say. However,
today we are seeing people being persecuted for their religious beliefs, their
sexual orientation or their political views. We see the erosion of civil
liberties in this country and the detention of people at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
with no end at sight. Are you stopping
it?
Or are you one of the people who explains it all away,
knowing that the direction Bush is taking society is wrong, but rationalizing
that it“s not that bad, or
even staying silent, hoping that it will all just suddenly stop, perhaps even
waiting for the proverbial pendulum to swing?
Martin Niemoller was a prominent theologian and Lutheran
pastor in Germany.
During the initial rise of the Nazi party to power, Niemoller not only
accommodated them, he supported them. But as the horrors of the Nazi era
mounted and became impossible to ignore, Niemoller increasingly spoke out
against them, until he too was imprisoned in concentration camps. After his
release when the Second World War ended, Niemoller penned his powerful poem
about the killing dynamics of conciliation and accommodation to that which is
unacceptable. Translated from its
original German:
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social
democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade
unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Today, we are not that far removed from the Germany of
Niemoller. We are faced with the choice
of ignoring reality and retreating into our own worlds, or standing
courageously against and resisting the direction the Bush regime wants to take
society.
Have you explained away the round ups of people from Middle
Eastern backgrounds? Oh, they must have all been terrorists. Have you remained silent watching airport
security racially profile people who appear to be Muslims. The airlines
are just trying to keep us safe. Is it acceptable for those same people to be
physically attacked after the events of September 11th?
Can you explain away the ban on gay marriage? I“m not gay so this isn’t my issue. Have you remained silent while the Bush
regime is trying to turn homosexuals into second class citizens? Why do gay people want to get married
anyway, aren“t
they satisfied with civil unions?
Is it acceptable for the GLBT community to endure such physical attacks,
even leading to death, as those faced by Matthew Shepard or Brandon Teena?
Have you explained away the Bush regimes response to
hurricane Katrina? No one could
have predicted that a hurricane would have caused so much damage. Did you remain silent when poor and Black
people were being treated like animals in the Louisiana Superdome and
convention center? The national
guards and police were simply overwhelmed. Was it acceptable for you to watch as
shoot-to-kill orders were given to people who were trying to survive the storm
and its aftermath?
Will we ever have to say:
First they came for the Muslims,
but I wasn“t
a Muslim.
I didn“t
speak out.
Then they came for the Immigrants,
but I wasn“t
an Immigrant.
I didn“t
speak out.
Next they came for homosexuals,
but I wasn“t
a homosexual.
I didn“t
speak out.
Then they came for Katrina evacuees,
but I wasn“t
an evacuee.
I didn“t
speak out.
Then they came for me,
but by that time,
There was no one left.
Which Niemoller will you be?
The one who supported fascism, believing that the Nazis were fine for
everyone else, only realizing the full implications when his own life was
impacted? Or the Niemoller who, once he realized the full implications, spoke
out and resisted, even when that meant being sent to a concentration camp?
The one thing that people forget is that Hitler was
stoppable and history did not have to end up the way it did. People did see what his regime was doing, but
it was not enough. They needed to act,
but when they did, it was too late. We
must be aware that it is not too late for us.
We can still act and we must.
October 5th is such a day where the tide can turn, and the direction the
Bush regime is taking society is stopped through critical mass. If this regime and what they are
implementing is unacceptable, then you need to join with us as we make October
5th a day where we can truly bring the Bush regime and its hold on society to a
halt. Things are bad, but it’s not too
late. We can do this!