I Will Speak Out

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller

Susan Delacourt lays it out for us:

So all this agitation over the niqab, all the fierce declarations of what the majority in Canada wants at citizenship ceremonies, is about fewer than a handful of people. Except that it isn’t about those two people; it is about tapping into support that any responsible politician shouldn’t want.No political party in the 1980s or 1990s, except the occasional fringe one, was actively whipping up antipathy to the French minority in Canada. You can’t make a country work that way, even if it does yield some crucial votes.And no party in this election, similarly, should be whipping up antipathy to Muslims, or any religion or culture. It’s repulsive if it works and even more repulsive if it was planned to work that way.

Take a stand against intolerance.  Speak out.  Loudly. Obstreperously.  Vehemently.  Proudly.

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