We are all minorities

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.

- German pastor Martin Niemöller in 1946


In the midst of this debate on Arizona Senate Bill 1070 requiring law enforcement officers to ask for identification from and detain any individual they have reasonable suspicion of being an illegal immigrant, one thing that strikes me is the relative reticence of those who are not Latino.

While it is obvious that this law was written with the intent of targeting only Latinos, (even with the amendment its original version speaks volumes and will taint its execution), I think it is important to see that we are all affected. Not only are we at the whim of any police officer, but more importantly, it is not WHICH minority that is affected who should immediately bristle and invoke our American spirit for the protection of individual rights, but THAT a minority group is disproportionately affected.

We must remember that we are all minorities: demographically, geographically, ideologically, and otherwise. Our beautiful society can be cut up any which way someone with power and with evil intent chooses: Latinos, Asians, Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Polish, Jewish, Catholic, Mormon, atheist, Southern, Northern, Texan, Montanan, women, men, young, old, tall, short. The buck stops with all of us.