Jacob Young- Junot Diaz Interview - Week 2 Assignment

Throughout the interview Mr. Diaz often talks about silence as potent tool and something he considers himself to be "fluent" in. As a tool for survival, silence has been used to avoid potential repercussions based on Race, Nationality, Gender, Sexual Orientation etc. As a straight white male, I had to really stop and think about my use of silence. Is my silence the same? In some situations, sure maybe I choose to be silent to protect my ego or withhold potentially damaging information, but I would say that I have silence as a privilege of power. I don't need to talk necessarily because I have much less to defend, lose or gain in sharing my opinion (historically). I can more easily use silence both offensively and defensively against the powers that be, where as (if I understand correctly), Mr. Diaz is expressing the idea that silence has become an ingrained tool for survival in the culture and systems of government that we have created in the United States.
Quickly I had to confront my own idea that to "change" things, one must speak out against the oppression. Then I thought "is silence holding us back?" My answer is yes, but not the silence of the marginalized, but the silence of those in power. For true equality, we must all be able to use the power of speech in all it's forms, whether in silence and solidarity, or marching proudly in the street chanting for change. The majority cannot remain silent, because those who have been marginalized, deserve in the name of equality, to have the choice to remain strong and silent and know that they do it out of strength and not fear of retaliation.