Straight, White, Christian, Male—Still Not Safe: Why No One’s Exempt From Rising Authoritarianism

My favorite poem isn’t about love or nature or any of the beautiful things this world has to offer; instead, it’s a confessional and a warning about the devastating power of apathy. It’s called “First They Came” by Martin Niemöller. It says (in its most widely circulated version):

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor who had been a supporter of Adolf Hitler in the early days of the Third Reich, yet when he saw how far Hitler was willing to go to secure power, Niemöller began to speak out against him. Niemöller was arrested in 1937 for crimes against the state and would be sent to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp before being shipped to Dachau, where he would stay until freed by the Allies in 1945.

The poem is striking, both for its historical meaning and its relevance to our lives today. As a nation, we are teetering on the brink of authoritarianism, and for some, the attacks by the administration feel like a blessing. It’s easy to justify the attacks on others, because they don’t seem to affect you.

Deport illegals? What do I care, I’m a citizen. Heck, if they’re gone, maybe I’ll be able to make more money.

Quash protests on college campuses? Those bratty kids need to learn their place and either get in the classroom or go home.

Repeal funding for universities? They’re too liberal anyway, and taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be going to them.

Strip away the AP’s press credentials and pull CBS’s broadcasting license? The mainstream media is just a mouthpiece for Democrats. I get my news from FoxNews anyway.

And at first, these positions can feel justified, but as Niemöller and history show us, authoritarians don’t stop with the easy targets. The question, then, is how long before they come for you? If you’re a straight, white, Christian, male, and a US citizen to boot, you probably feel pretty secure, thinking that there is nothing about you that could be targeted or used as a reason to strip away your rights, but you’d be wrong.

So you’re straight? Have you or your wife ever used birth control? Many straight couples do as a way to plan their families. Proposals are now working their way through Congress and cases through the courts that could strip that access away from you. And without abortion, that means you’ll either have to practice abstinence or pray your partner doesn’t get pregnant when that wasn’t your plan.

So you’re white? Ask someone whose grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated to the United States from Southern or Eastern Europe during the early 20^th century how they were treated. Check in with someone whose family came from Ireland in the 19^th century, and you’ll find out just how fragile the notion of “whiteness” is. When we can attack racial minorities with impunity, it is a small step to attacking ethnicity.

So you’re Christian? Fine, but are you the right kind? Many evangelical denominations would label groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons as cults, and a greater than zero percentage of conservative denominations still believe that Catholicism is a mockery of true Christianity. But let’s say that you are in one of the “right” denominations. Let’s say that you support the notion of Bibles in schools. How will you feel if the administration decides that all Bibles must be the King James version? For some Christians, that would be a tremendous positive move, but there are plenty of other denominations who see the KJV as a subpar English translation. Do you like the idea of book bannings for moral reasons? What will you do if government agents decide they want to ban certain translations from schools because they “corrupt children”? What if the tides change and the government decides that the NIV is the superior translation and your KJV is now illegal?

So you’re a man? Admittedly, there are not too many attacks likely to come against your masculinity, but what of the women in your life? The SAVE Act will strip the right to vote from millions of women (likely including your wife) whose married name does not match the name on their birth certificate. The workaround is to file for a passport, which is fine if the woman in question has an extra $165 sitting around. There is a term for this kind of fee to vote: poll taxes, which were outlawed decades ago, but it seems they are coming back with a vengeance.

So you’re a US citizen? You don’t have to worry about being deported, right? Wrong. Trump has made it very clear that he plans to deport American “criminals” to foreign prisons, where they will disappear and never be heard from again. “But they’re criminals, so why does it matter?” you ask. Well, because wrongful convictions happen…at a pace of about 8%, with some estimates going as high as 15%. If, God forbid, you were wrongfully convicted in the United States, you’d at least be able to appeal and have the conviction overturned. That’s not the case if you are taken to a foreign prison. Are you willing to risk your life or the lives of your loved ones? I know I’m not.

Niemöller’s words are more important now than they’ve been at any point since World War II, and I implore you to stand up for the rights of those who are being attacked, or at least have the guts to look them in the eye and tell them they don’t deserve their basic rights or human dignity. But if you choose the latter, know this: when they come for you, there may not be anyone left to speak out for you.