In the recent months, the USA has seen quite a drastic departure from their old reputation as the leader of the free world—especially when it comes to respecting the rights of human life. There have been a lot of cases where the sitting president, Donald Trump, has spoken words that could be construed as inflammatory, divisive, and even outright abhorrent.
These words empowered individuals that seek to be as disruptive and divisive as they can be. There are a lot of policies which are enacted upon by Trump’s government that do not sit well with a lot of his constituents like the child separation policy at the border when refugees are aiming to seek asylum in the USA. There are a lot of cases of racism and acts of violence perpetuated upon persons of color or minorities that often go unpunished.
Speaking Out
When the government or the police do not do anything about this, what is to be done? Simple: you don’t stay quiet about it.
Injustice Proliferates Amidst Silence
Injustice is something that can only continue if no one dares to speak out and act out about it. If people all know that injustice is being done but do nothing—it is as if they are actively giving their consent regarding it. Everyone—yes, everyone—has a social responsibility to ensure that their environment is conducive for justice, equality, and fairness.
Injustice Affects Us All
When we allow injustice to prevail, we are setting ourselves up for collective failure later on. You may think that this is not possible—after all if injustice only targets a specific set of people and you don’t fall under that particular category, what do you have to fear?
As it turns out: A LOT! When governments and people in power are able to get away with persecuting a particular set of their constituents, they are more likely to commit more acts of atrocities in the future. We’ve seen this when Hitler was in control of Germany. We have seen this when Marcos had control of the Philippines. Injustice isn’t just something that affects a few people. In the end, we are all affected despite the best efforts to pretend that it doesn’t.
So there you have it! We’ve given a few reasons why you should not stay silent about injustice when it happens around you—especially when it is something that is so actively so negative and hateful. Always remember that it is through the inaction of the many that the few are able to get away with so much. With that we’d like to pass on a question to you. Do you think people should stay silent when they see injustice? What are the merits of speaking out about it?