First they came
To the Editor,
President Trump’s rabid, racist rant this past weekend should not have come as a surprise, coming from a serial xenophobe. What was surprising, and indeed extremely disturbing, was the deafening silence emanating from Trump’s Republican supporters, and the snickering response projected by his public relations crew at Fox&Friends. This may be the time to recall a poem written by a Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemoller, at the end of World War II.
First 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.
Niemoller, who was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp, wrote this poem to highlight the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis’ rise to power and subsequent incremental purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Let history provide a lesson.
Theo Wierdsma
Corralitos
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Protest was met with support
To the Editor,
This is a response to the article posted on July 4th titled, “Protest delays Spirit of Watsonville Parade.” I would like to start off by thanking the writer, Tony Nunez, for giving a voice to the protest and its organizer Olga Fuentes and allowing us a glimpse of what the motivation behind the protest was and the response by city officials.
However, I couldn’t help but notice how the wording of the article and its use of the word “delay” in the title and throughout the rest of it takes away from the protestors’ message and diminishes its impact. It gives the reader the impression that the protest was nothing more than an inconvenience. Likewise, stating that city officials allowed the protestors to delay the parade in order to “diffuse the situation” seems to imply that the protest had started a commotion and was being disruptive, when in fact it was done in a respectful and peaceful way and was met with the support of onlookers.
Xavier Vargas
Watsonville
•••
Editor’s Note: The Pajaronian welcomes letters. Letters and columns may be dropped off or mailed to the Pajaronian, 21 Brennan St., Suite 18, Watsonville, CA 95076. Letters and columns may also be sent via email to
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. Letters should be less than 300 words, and columns are no more than 700 words. All letters and columns must be signed and have an address and phone number for confirmation purposes. We reserve the right to edit and condense all submissions.
