2-4-25

Are you Spartacus?

By Lee Goodman

In the movie, hundreds of slaves who had been captured when their rebellion failed were told they could live if they identified their leader, Spartacus. They all heroically shouted out, “I'm Spartacus!” to prevent the real Spartacus from being taken from them. It never happened. It's just a movie.

Legend has it that the King of Denmark wore a yellow star to show solidarity with Danish Jews who were in jeopardy of being rounded up by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps. It's a nice legend, but it also never happened.

But people do endanger themselves all the time, in order to protect others. We all know that if we were called upon to protect our loved ones, we would. How far would we go to protect people we don't even know?

Right now, our country is rounding people up and imprisoning them. Some are quickly deported. Some are being sent to a concentration camp in Guantanamo and to other places. No one knows when or if those people will ever be allowed to go free, or how many of them will die in the camps.

We can't prevent this grotesque cruelty simply by shouting, “I'm a migrant!” It will take much more to make our government change course. But by declaring our opposition publicly, we can at least let the people who are cowering in fear see that they are not alone. If enough of us who are not in danger show Trump, ICE, and their Republican enablers that we demand justice, at some point they will take notice. The Democrats in Congress also need to see that the public does not acquiesce. Our neighbors who voted for Trump need to know that we will not let the result of the election silence our opposition to inhumanity. And we each need to know, for the sake of our own souls and sanity, that we are not meekly standing by as atrocities are committed.

During WWII, migrants who were sent to concentration camps were required to wear blue triangles on their uniforms. Will you put a blue triangle in your window, to show your solidarity with today's oppressed migrants? Will you wear a blue triangle patch on your chest or on an armband, and explain to the curious what it means?

Too many pundits are telling us that a majority of Americans agree that our country should rid itself of migrants, one way or another. Too many Republicans are endorsing Trump's racist policies, and too many Democrats in Congress are offering too little resistance.

School children are taught the difference between being a bystander and an up-stander. An up-stander is someone who stands up to bullying and meanness. A bystander just watches it happen.

Please display or wear a blue triangle . Show the world. It doesn't take much. A piece of paper, a scrap of cloth. A bit of courage.