Tuesday, May 26, 2009

When My Silence Is Actually Speech

When others are being dehumanized and I see what is taking place but remain silent, my silence is actually speech.

By remaining silent, I am saying that I find the degradation of these others thinkable.

I am saying that I find their humanity less than my own humanity, that if challenged, I could offer reasons for their dehumanization.

I am saying this because, under similar conditions, I would cry out loudly, with righteous indignation, against my own dehumanization.

Because I know I am human, and I know that human beings ought not to be treated as less than human.

And I would expect others to join in as I cried out against my dehumanization, because they, too, are human as I am human.