TYRANNY BEGINS AT THE FRINGES
AND WORKS ITS WAY INTO THE CENTER
Brothers and sisters, listen to me here: Tyranny normally begins on the fringes of society and is first directed against those who do not possess the power to defend themselves (such as blacks in this country and Jews in Nazi Germany), and then it works its way in towards the center; it first targets those members of the community that nobody cares about, and then moves its way up the "food chain." If we are to arrest the spread of tyranny, we must attempt to do so early on; otherwise we will find ourselves engaged in an "exercise in futility."
This is what Pastor Martin Niemoeller tried to convey many years ago when he talked about his experience in Hitler's Third Reich:
"First the Nazis came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
"Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
"Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
"Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
"Then they came for me, but by that time, no one was left to speak up."
Sadly, the process that Pastor Niemoeller describes here has been going on in the United States for some time now and has probably already progressed to the point where it is now unstoppable - and if you don't recognize what's been happening, it's probably because you are white, middle-class, have a relatively good education, and you live in the suburbs. But, as we have already indicated, if you're black and if you live in South-Central L.A., or in the Bronx, or in Liberty City, Florida you know perfectly well what we're talking about |
