America facing the “banality of evil”

I was at lunch in Springfield when a close friend called from one of the suburbs of Chicago. He said, “This area has been invaded; I cannot go outside my house for fear of being taken away. They (ICE) are waiting outside construction and other offices. As soon as workers come out who look Latino or speak Spanish, they are apprehended. These are ordinary workers, he said, just trying to make a living and contributing to this community. I could hear the nervousness and tension in his voice.

Like many others, my friend is caught in the citizenship dilemma. He has applied for, but not yet received, full citizenship. His situation is even more complicated. He was wrongly convicted and imprisoned during a time that his family, who came to this country over 30 years ago, received U.S. citizenship. But because my friend was incarcerated, he could not apply. Even though he was found fully innocent of the crime for which he was convicted, and then was released, he has not yet been able to obtain his American citizenship.

My friend, who is of Mexican heritage, then said: “This is like Germany; I am seriously thinking of leaving this country.” I knew that if he had to do that, he would leave many family members behind, including his elderly and frail parents. His statement felt like a gut punch. I care deeply for my friend and his family. 

I began to ask myself: Can we really compare what is happening now in this country to one of the darkest periods in recent history? Germany had evolved from the Weimar Republic to a society where ordinary people continued with their lives, while millions in the Jewish and other minority populations were being rounded up and sent to extermination camps. 

I thought: Even though some people are really upset with what they see happening to our democracy, many more around me continue uninterrupted with their daily activities. 

Was the famous philosopher Hannah Arendt right when she wrote about the “banality of evil?” That evil had become so commonplace that ordinary German citizens just accepted governmental injustices and atrocities and went on with their lives? And isn’t that what happened in the United States when more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent were rounded up and forced to move into American concentration camps while the bulk of our population ignored those actions by our government? It took over 40 years for the American government to officially recognize we were wrong and to issue an apology for that injustice.

Is that reoccurring today in our society as thousands of brown people – children, mothers, fathers and ordinary working people like my friend – are being rounded up and sent off to places unknown? This is happening with no warrant, no proof that they are guilty of anything except not meeting up to the bureaucratic standard of being a white American citizen? Where are these individuals who are being detained without a warrant or cause? Are they, too, in concentration camps either here or in other countries? What is their fate? Are they to die in those camps? Are they to be sent to Africa or South America where they will suffer all kinds of harm?

There must be something we can do to prevent this cherished nation from following the parallel of Germany and other dictatorial nations around the world. So here I am, faced with the call from my dear friend, feeling powerless as one individual to help him and others because my overall society has yet to awaken to what is happening around us. While I know I am not alone in my despair, I have yet to see more than a few in leadership and institutions help in any resistance that has more than a fleeting impact. Our political parties, universities, corporations, Congress, courts, law firms, even our unions, seem to be either caving in or paying lip service to the imminent threat before us. We cannot wait for new elections over a year away. It is up to the American people to assert themselves. I, for one, am searching for colleagues to join in fighting to save the American republic, despite its flaws and limitation. 

I keep thinking of a famous quote by Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. One act of disobedience is better than one hundred sermons.” The question now is what will you do when ICE comes into Springfield to take away our neighbors and workers who care for our kids, and help harvest and prepare the food we eat? Each of us needs to start finding those ways now – before it is too late.  

Larry Golden of Springfield is a social justice advocate and emeritus professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at University of Illinois Springfield.

This article appears in October 23-29, 2025.