Rachel Sickels
ENWG 1101
Rasheda Younger
1 March, 2015
When
to Break Silence
“Be quiet, you don’t want to make a scene.” Parents often
say that to young children acting up in public places. They do not want people
to get annoyed, or make judgements, they want people to just go on their way
silently. And in instances like those, it’s okay to be silent. Major public
scenes make it seem like the one causing the scene is spoiled, bratty, and
immature. However, for life changing issues, like the ongoing tensions between
the Middle East and The United States, staying silent on the matter is not
okay. Silence needs to be broken on the issue. A famous speech that broke the
silence on the wrongful violence of war is Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech
“Beyond Vietnam.” Even though he was condemned for speaking on the issue by
most of his usual political supporters and friends, he broke his silence
because the issue went against what he stood for. That is the time when one
needs to break the silence, when it goes against personal principles, whether
it is immoral killing everywhere, or whether it is basic injustice. The irony is in how people react when the
silence is broken, whether too early or too late. The timing affects how much support breaking
the silence will gather. Interestingly,
silence never seems to be broken at just the right time.
Breaking the silence when you feel
strongly about something requires bravery. Vietnam was one of America’s worst
wars in history. America was unprepared for the strong resistance that Vietnam
put up, unprepared for the lack of support from its own country, and unprepared
for the lack of funds for this war. All
in all, it was a terrible war for America. But the government still continued
to fight in it, losing many lives along the way. People began realizing this, and realized that
it was time to break the silence. They began to realize that they needed to get
the American troops out of there, and they gained support through many
protestors, including Martin Luther King Jr. In his speech, “Beyond Vietnam”,
he stated, “as I…break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings
of my own heart…I have called for radical departures from the destruction of
Vietnam” (Martin Luther King Jr.). People questioned him on why he was moved to
talk about the war when he was a civil rights activist. Some people even said he was betraying his
cause by talking about the war. But they didn’t realize that at that point, for Dr. King, it was time to break the silence
because it went against the nonviolence principles that he deeply believed in.
“…for such questions mean that the inquirers have not really known me, my
commitment, or my calling” (King Jr.).
While his friends thought he shouldn’t have spoken on this subject, Dr.
King felt it was too late, that he had betrayed his principles. It was time to speak on the large matter at
hand. Unfortunately, protesters were
often subjected to being beaten by police, sprayed with mace, and other violent
means of crowd control.
Another situation that moves people to break the silence
is when there is merciless killing and destruction. Vietnam was infamous
because of its brutality, not only to the soldiers of the opposing army, but to
the civilians as well. America poisoned their water, napalmed their forests,
killed their crops, and bombed their homes. To American troops, who were acting
under orders from the government, it was move out or suffer the consequences. American citizens realized that this was
happening, and decided to break the silence with public protests. Even American
soldiers over there realized that it was time to stop the war. According to
King Jr., “a sensitive American official overseas said that it seemed to him
that our nation was on the wrong side of a world revolution” (King Jr.). America was starting to be perceived as evil
in a sense, making it time to break the silence.
Recently, there have been incidents where ordinary people
felt it was time to break the silence and fight back. On August 14, 2014, a
young black man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police
officer, Darren Wilson. Wilson was chasing him down for being a suspect in a
robbery at a liquor store. While there are conflicting reports on whether he
charged the officer or whether he slowly walked with his hands up, there was
one constant throughout every testimony- Brown was unarmed. But he not only
said Brown was armed and coming at him, Wilson shot him 7 times, six of which
were considered fatal. Brown suffered
four hours of bleeding out, with no help coming, before finally dying. The
grand jury later said that Wilson would not be charged for the murder of Brown.
This caused people to speak up, to break the silence. It was stated that Brown
was unarmed but was still brutally murdered, and his murderer got away scott free.
People began protesting, having demonstrations and speaking out against this
injustice. As a New York Times article
put it, “Thousands of people have taken part in events around the St. Louis
area to protest the killing of Mr. Brown and to raise awareness of police
treatment of African-Americans” (NY Times).
They broke the silence, but it was too late for Mr. Brown. Still, it needed to be broken to prevent
further injustice.
Sometimes
it is not safe to break the silence.
Those who speak out may lose their jobs, their homes, their families,
and even their lives. Dr. King was
assassinated for speaking about his strong beliefs. In 1989, the United States passed a law
called the whistleblower law. The law
states, “You may file a complaint with
OSHA if your employer retaliates against you by taking unfavorable personnel
action because you engaged in protected activity relating to workplace safety
or health, asbestos in schools, cargo containers, airline, commercial motor
carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health
insurance reform, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public
transportation agency, railroad, maritime, motor vehicle safety, and securities
laws.” This affords some protection for
those who would otherwise stay silent about injustices against them or other
persons to speak out and break the silence. One famous whistleblower is Mark Felt. Without
him breaking the silence and publishing the information that President Nixon
was involved with the Watergate break-in, the Watergate scandal would have not
been brought to light. With the law backing him, he was able to bring to light
the illegal dealings of powerful politicians, including the president. He suffered no secret retaliation, like
losing his job as an FBI agent. He knew he was safe to break the silence,
because the law backed him up.
The time to break the silence depends on
the situation, and the safety of those speaking out. Ideally, it should happen
before the situation deteriorates so badly that lives are lost, but in society
today people get more community support with the distribution of information
over the web, as well as TV and radio. And
that seems to only happen when the situation is dire. While we, as a society, are
finally beginning to protect those who are brave enough to speak out, some
challenges remain. If one speaks too soon, they may not have the
support necessary to be successful in making a change, or a difference, such as
when Dr. King lost the backing of his friends and colleagues. Yet Dr. King felt that the speech was held until
it was too late to save the lives lost while he debated over whether to speak. Too soon, or too late, but never just at the
right time.
Works
Cited
King,
Matrin Luther, Jr. "Beyond Vietnam." Beyond Vietnam. New York's
Riverside Church, New York City. 4 Apr. 1967. Speech.
"What
Happened in Ferguson?" The New York Times. The New York Times,
12 Aug. 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html>.
"Tracking
the Events in the Wake of Michael Brown’s Shooting." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 08 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/09/us/10ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-grand-jury-darren-wilson.html#/#time354_10495>.
Factsheet.
London: National Dairy Council, 1993. Web.
"5
of the Most Famous Federal Whistleblowers." Washington Post.
The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/07/31/5-famous-whistleblowers-from-the-federal-government/>.
The Ferguson Protests
