Where there is a Will, There is a Way
This is my revision of the “First they came” poem. I call it “First they attacked”. It follows the same premise of the original post-war confession by a German Lutheran pastor, which was about the cowardice of German intellectuals, and certain clergy following the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group. If this sounds familiar it’s because if you forget history, it repeats itself. We must never allow this to happen ever again!
First they attacked the illegal immigrants
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not an illegal immigrant.
Then they attacked the Muslim Americans
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not a Muslim.
Then they attacked the Jewish Americans
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not Jewish.
Then they attacked the American LGBTQ community
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender.
Then they attacked the Asian and African Americans
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not Asian or African American.
Then they attacked the American women
And I did not speak out,
Because I am not a woman.
Then they came to attack me
Because I am a Latino American,
And there was no one left
To speak out or defend me.
Evil grows, spreads and triumphs
When good people are silent and do nothing.
Good people of America, do something, before it is too late!
– Francisco Garcia