Silence Sides with Power

Opinion article, guest author by Karyleni Alburquerque

“You do not need to raise your voice to take a side. Silence does it for you.”

Let that settle.

In a society where injustice is stitched into systems, institutions, and history itself, silence is never neutral—it is a decision. And more often than not, it is a comfortable one.

I want everyone who feels at ease in today’s America to sit with this truth: those who are the most uncomfortable—those struggling to access healthcare, fighting for economic security, or simply trying to exist in peace have been bearing the weight of this country’s failures in silence for far too long. Not because they don’t care. Not because they aren’t paying attention. But because survival leaves little room for protest.

This is not about blame. This is about responsibility. Because even as the odds stack higher, marginalized communities continue to speak out, organize, and demand better. Somehow, despite being shut out and shouted down, they continue to show up louder and more consistently than those who hold power and privilege.

Let’s talk about that for a moment. Why is it that those with the most freedom to speak—the most influence, resources, and reach—so often choose not to?

I believe the answer is simple: people profit off of poverty. Corporations, politicians, and the elite benefit when others remain disadvantaged. When people are busy trying to afford basic necessities, they have less time, energy, or ability to fight systems that exploit them.

And this isn’t new.

Take Abraham Lincoln, for example. He didn’t write the Emancipation Proclamation because he suddenly believed in racial equality. He wrote it because ending slavery was a strategic blow to the Southern economy. We love to rewrite history into moral victories—but this country has long treated justice as a political currency, not a founding value.

America wasn’t built on freedom. It was built on colonization, exploitation, and exclusion. But acknowledging that truth isn’t unpatriotic, it’s necessary. If we are ever going to repair this country, we need to stop pretending it was perfect to begin with. 

The problem isn’t that we’re too divided. The problem is that too many voices are being ignored. And too many others have chosen not to speak at all.

You don’t need to perform some grand gesture to take a stand. You don’t need a microphone or a platform. But you do need to speak.

Because silence — comfortable, convenient silence — has always chosen the side of power.

And that is not the side history will remember kindly.