Remember Martin Niemoeller-- Speak out now for the immigrants

[Ian David]

"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

--Rev. Martin Niemoeller

More:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/n...

In 2002 they came for the Muslims.
In 2004 they came for the gays.
Now, in 2006, they're coming for the immigrants.

I am not an illegal immigrant.
I am not an immigrant.

But I will speak out for all immigrants-- legal and illegal-- because their fight is my fight.

Their fight is everyone's fight.

We must speak out when they come for the immigrants.

We must speak out when they come for ANYONE.

We MUST speak out for ALL who are oppressed or scapegoated or marginalized, whether or not they spoke out when they came for YOU.

But by gawd, when you do, do not be shy about asking, "And did you speak out when they came for me?"

I am here and I will speak out for you, whether or not you spoke out for me.

And tell them, "don't you forget it!"

You speak out for them.

And let them know you're speaking out for them. No matter which "them" it is.

Today "them" is the immigrants.

Tomorrow YOU could become the next "them."

You speak out for them.

And you let them KNOW you're there, who you are, what you stand for, and you remind them who else needs speaking out for.

You ask them, "Did you speak out when they came for the Muslims in 2002? The gays in 2004? Why not? Well, I spoke out for them. And today I am speaking out for you whether you sat on the sidelines or not."

Let's lead by example. LOUDLY. And if some people need to be made a little ashamed of their past silence, then so be it. BUT WE WILL SPEAK OUT FOR THEM AND STAND WITH THEM.

ON TUESDAY, APRIL 10TH, THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE WILL BE HEARING ARGUMENTS ON A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN GAY MARRIAGE!

SPEAK OUT FOR THAT, TOO!

[AlamoDemoc]

1. Thank you...I too shall speak out

:kick: & recommended for Humanity

[laylah]

2. I, too, speak out and

will continue to do so. Awesome post, Ian! K&R

Jenn

[earthside]

3. Send your sermon to Mexico. n/t

[shraby]

5. The original poster is right.

No one knows who will be next on the list of scapegoats. If we don't defend now the ones that are getting crushed under those who have power you, me or someone I know might be next.

[greyl]

8. Huh? What the hell does mean? nt

[beam me up scottie]

15. How about we send you instead?

We ran out of room a long time ago for people with the "I've got mine" attitude.

[Ksec]

4. Those were discrimination based

This isnt, but good try Ian. This has nothing to do with discrimination and when you say it is you cheapen true discrimination

[Ian David]

6. We should ALL agree that ALL immigrants HAVE RIGHTS as human beings

Where people of good conscience can disagree is, "How much are we willing to sacrifice for them? How much of ourselves can we give?"

Where ever you stand on immigration or illegal immigration, we MUST remember this:

They are people.

They have rights.

They are worthy of respect and dignity.

We can argue over quotas and walls and taxes and paths to citizenship...

But where we can allow no argument is in the idea that they are HUMANS with HUMAN RIGHTS.

Speak out now for THAT.

We can sort-out the details of how we slice-up the socio-economic pie later.

Right now, these people are in DANGER.

Let's not argue over which seats they get in the lifeboat while they're drowning.

They need us to speak out for them NOW.

And when you're out there in the trenches with them, you tell them, "I am a progressive liberal democrat. I support freedom, equality and opportunity for everyone. I support you, I support equal rights, I support gay marriage, and I hope you do too."

Let them know your OTHER progressive liberal values, and that being a progressive liberal means you will fight for THEM, too.

[Ian David]

7. Re-kicked! n/t

[NNN0LHI]

14. Going after the Trade Unionists was discrimination based?

How you figure that?

Don

[Behind the Aegis]

9. K&R

Freedom for ALL people! A challenge to anyone's freedom, is a challenge to all of our freedoms.

[IndyOp]

10. It is never simple...

The way in which I will speak out against discrimination on the basis of religion or race differs from the way in which I will speak out for immigrants who are living and working here illegally. I will speak out for them - but you may or may not approve.

If anyone thinks that the tired and hungry people who have washed up on US shores were able to do well in the US so long as they had no interference from the 'locals' -- you are wrong. Read "Angelas Ashes" and "Tis" -- Frank McCourt's autobiographies. During periods when too many immigrants (legal or illegal) entered the country, jobs were scarce and they did *not* do better than they had in the old place. McCourt's family suffered terribly in New York and eventually returned to the slums of Ireland where they had been better off (and they lived in terrible conditions there).

I *do* believe in immigration and believe we should increase rates of legal immigration for political refugees, especially.

I do believe that we should crack down on businesses that illegally hire illegal immigrants and raise the minimum wage for all legal workers to reduce the numbers of illegal immigrants. Millions of Mexicans would return home on their own. No purges. No wall. No racism. Humane treatment for all - including access to emergency health care for any human being who is in this country.

If we want to improve the lives of Mexicans - end NAFTA so they can re-establish laws that protect their businesses instead of having to buy the crap that can be so cheaply mass produced by US mega-companies. Ending NAFTA and GATT are forms of economic protectionism - it would protect their economy and their people by making sure that their businesses are not undercut by mega-companies. It would also protect our economy by decreasing the number of workers available to businesses and thus pushing up salaries and benefits so that legal immigrants and others can get good-paying jobs. There should not be *any* jobs that pay too little for an American to want them. It is immoral to expect *anyone* legal or illegal immigrant or citizen to work for such slave wages.

We are a country - we've made a 'pact' to take care of this land and each other. The better we take care of ourselves the better we can help our neighbors. (And for Godsakes END the period of US imperialism and militarism and...).

Please tune in to Thom Hartmann -- he is the only person I have heard who really understands all of the issues, and difficult choices, involved. His show plays 24/7 - the link to stream it is in the first paragraph here:

<http://www.whiterosesociety.org/Hartmann.html >

[beam me up scottie]

11. I have, and will continue to speak out.

For GLBT people yesterday, for immigrants today, and for whomever it will be tomorrow.

For anyone who needs my voice.

Because there's always a next time, and there's always someone else.



At work, I hear it all the time; "the government can't even take care of us, why should the immigrants get special treatment?"


Why do some people think that denying health care, jobs and education to immigrants will somehow compel our government to spend the money on us?


When I speak out for them, I speak out for all of us.


Human rights are for all humans.

[Terran1212]

12. I have and will

[NNN0LHI]

13. K&R for all the people who have been generally fucked over n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Kicked and recommended !

[paineinthearse]

17. Thank you for reminding me to call my state rep and senator

Mr. Adams' Constitution is just fine the way he wrote it, thank you.

[EFerrari]

18. Kick

[salvorhardin]

19. An excellent reminder

Thank you.

[Ian David]

21. Re-kick! n/t

[mom cat]

20. Unless we are multi trillion-aires, we are all somewhere on the hit list.

I think that there is a sensible way to solve this. Have an amnesty for people who are already here. The specter of Halliburton concentration camps is too horrible. We do not need that in America. There will be no non-brutal way to remove the people who have been here for years. Actually, the Mexicans have more claim to this land than "we" do since their ancestors were native to this land. Those of us with predominately European ancestry were all immigrants once, and many were not all that legal. Should we be sent back? Should we not also send back to Europe the descendants of all European immigrants who stoled land from the indigenous people here, violated treaties with them, participated in genocide upon them and profited from their misery and suffering?
We hear screaming today about "some people" who have "broken laws (immigration in this case), yet we here nothing about the systematic crimes against humanity of the European conquerors and their descendants who have profited from genocide here and around the world.
How would we feel if those lawbreakers and their descendent's (which includes most of us on this board) were forced to go back to their country of origin, give up all their property that they worked for and were parted from their friends and families and forced to suffer the danger and degradation of neo-con concentration camps to boot! Perhaps we should look first at how we have profited from the genocides of the past(not to mention those that are still occurring)! We need to be VERY CAREFUL about jumping on any bandwagon that inflicts more suffering on the marginalized here and abroad.