THE ACTIVIST, THE BYSTANDER, AND THE PERPETRATOR
In a socially repressive system people tend to be in one of these three groups:
The Activist The Bystander The Perpetrator
THE ACTIVIST (OR RESISTOR):
ONE WHO ACTIVELY ENGAGES IN OPEN OR SECRET RESISTANCE AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT AND BELIEVES STRONGLY IN SOCIAL JUSTICE. THEY AGITATE AND TRY TO REMIND THEIR COUNTRYMEN AND WOMEN THAT NO ONE IS SAFE IN A WHEN THERE IS SOCIAL INEQUALITY.
SOME EXAMPLES:
MAHATMA GANDHIIndia: 1930
After trying to break the hold of mighty British Empire, Gandhi developed the idea of non-violentaction. Using mass peaceful protests, defiance, and hunger strikes to provoke a response, Gandhi was able to bring independence to India.
ROSA PARKS Alabama: 1955
Parks,a 42 year old seamstress refused to give up her bus seat to a white man.Setting the wheels in motion for Martin Luther King’s non-violent bus boycott, Rosa Parks is considered the "mother of the civil Rights movement"
SOPHIA M. SCHOLL Munich: 1943
22 year old German Sophia Scholl was a member of the non-violent group called the White Rose.Opposing Nazi rule, the group memberswere arrested when a custodian saw them leave their leaflets on the desks of their university. The Nazi Party had the group beheaded, yet their spirit went on to inspire others
“TANK MAN” Tiananmen Square, Bejing: 1989
An unknown man steps in front of a column of tanks in protest of the bloody repression of students by China's Communist government.
NINA WILSON, SHEELAH McLEAN, SYLVIA McADAM and JESSICA GORDON Ottawa: 2012
Founders of the "Idle No More" campaign in November 2012, these women began with an idea to raise awarenessaround the Canadian Government's Bill C-45, and ended up starting an international movement.
THE BYSTANDER:
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO DON’T NECESSARILY SUPPORT THE SOCIAL INJUSTICE BUT WHOM SAY NOTHING AGAINST IT. THEY TRY TO GO ON WITH THEIR DAILY LIVES AND TO "WEATHER THE STORM." TODAY, IT IS EASY TO JUDGE FROM THE SAFETY OF OUR HOMES AND COUCHES. WE WATCH DOCUMENTARIES ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL AND DECLARE THAT IF WE WERE IN NAZI GERMANY WE WOULD FIGHT THE SYSTEM.WOULD WE? WOULD YOU?OR WOULD WE KEEP OUR HEAD DOWN AND HOPE THINGS WOULD IMPROVE? ARE THERE SITUATIONS WHEN PEACEFUL PROTEST WILL NOT WORK?
"In Germany they first came for the Communists, and I didn't’ speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't’ speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one else was left to speak up." - Martin Niemöller
THE ACTIVE PARTICIPANT OR PERPETRATOR:
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO SEE OPPORTUNITY AND USE THE FEAR, HATE AND VIOLENCE ASSOCIATED WITH A SOCIAL INJUSTICE TO FURTHER THEMSELVES AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS. UNFORTUNATELY THE LIST IS LONG AND INFAMOUS. HERE ARE JUST 3 EXAMPLES:
IRMA GREISE(akaThe B**** of Buchenwald)
This SS Guard showed extreme cruelty towards the inmates of Buchenwald.After the war, Greise was captured and executedduring the Nuremburg trials of 1945.
SALOTH SAR (aka Pol Pot)
Through the combined effects of executions, forced labor, malnutrition, and poor medical care hedcaused the deaths of approximately 25 percent of the Cambodian population. In all, an estimated 1 to 3 million people (out of a population of slightly over 8 million) died due to the policies of his four-year premiership (1976-1979).
TALAT PASHA
As the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, hedeclared an order to wipe out the Armenian race. People were whipped, tortured, robbed, raped and killed. All of the Armenians were forced into concentration camps.