Emely
Roman
Professor
Young
ENGW
1101
When
should Silence be Broken?
On April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church
in New York City, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech where he openly
expressed his opposition to the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. King
ignited a fire in thousands of Americans that were greatly opposed to going to
war with Vietnam but did not know how to stop the oncoming war. The Americans
who were anti-Vietnam felt outnumbered and voiceless against the movement for
war. Feeling voiceless occurs very often, even in the absence of extreme
situations such as going to war. In everyday scenarios a person can feel as
though their opinion is being muffled but do not know when to fight the
silence. There is always an appropriate time when a person should speak up for
their values. Silence should be broken when an action or idea violates our
moral values.
Silence needs to be broken when our
individuality is at risk. When we are in a group that collectively disagrees
with our opinion we tend to silence ourselves to prevent dissonance within our
group. “Nor does the human spirit move without
great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own
bosom and in the surrounding world” (King). It is challenging to speak against
popular opinion but the more we silence ourselves the more we become one with
the crowd. Breaking silence is necessary if we do not want to lose our
distinctive values and morals.
Broken
silence is acceptable when other being disrespectful in regards to our morals
or values. There are many occasions were our peers bad mouth our views on
certain topics and we do not stand up for what we believe in so a possible
argument does not arise. I often find myself complying, outwardly agreeing but
privately disagreeing, to the attitudes of my friends whenever we all discuss
religion. At some point in the discussion everyone begins to mock my religion
and Catholicism turns into a topic of humor. Everyone has the right to have
varying beliefs but this fact does not give my friends the right to silence me.
Having different sentiments does not put someone in a higher standing than
another person who does not share their perspective. We must be respectful
towards others while voicing our opinions. If an opinion is being made out of
malice we must speak out against the ignorance.
It is imperative
to speak out against uninformed comments or stand up against the crowd but
there is always a time and place for everything. We should be careful when
voicing our opinions in settings where the punishment affects our health,
financial status, or living arrangements. We would not voice our opinions to
our boss if they had a different outlook on the topic for our boss could
potentially fire us for not having the same opinion as them. A similar
situation arises when we are presented an opportunity to speak out against the
opinions of our family members. If we are to speak out against our parents
there is the possibly of being kicked out of the house. Breaking silence is
good for our moral integrity but it is not a wise choice in every situation.
In everyday circumstances
we can feel as though our values do not matter or that we are being silenced by
something or someone. If our peers collectively go against in what we believe
in it is important to speak up in order to keep our individuality. We must also
break silence when others are being disrespectful towards our opinions or the
opinions of others. Even though it is vital express our freedom of speech and
to advocate our beliefs, there is an appropriate time to break silence.
Breaking silence is a tough thing to do but if we really cared about what we
believe in speaking up should not be a problem. Our words are our most weapons
and we must utilize them wisely.
Works
Cited
King Jr, Martin Luther. “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break
Silence.” Clergy men concerned about Vietnam. Riverside Church, New York City.
Keynote Address. 1967 4 Apr.
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