Two kinds of people

Saturday, January 25, 2025

“Would you hide an immigrant from ICE?”

A friend asked me this the other day. My first thought was, “This is where we are, I guess.”

When we read the Diary of Ann Frank in school, something pretty quickly jumped out at me. Their world was populated by two kinds of people: Those who would turn them in to the authorities, and those who would not. Their world did not have the luxury of considering other kids of people.

In our current political reality, I think not much has changed. There are people who will turn in their neighbor, and people who will not. Motives really do not matter. If you turn in Ann and her family because you are concerned about the rule of law, they are as equally dead as they would be if you turned them in because you are a right-wing extremist.

The world I live in right now pretty much has two kinds of people in it: Those who would report their neighbor/ coworker / family member to ICE, and those who would not. Motives and reasons and justifications don’t really matter.

I know my answer. You might not agree with me, but I suggest you give this some thought.

Because one day soon, you might have to figure out which of those two kinds of people you are. And it’s probably easier to decide that in advance.