During Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-SC) town hall on Tuesday, he discussed citizen action against the Trump Administration.
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00:00If it's health care, how do we make it accessible and affordable?
00:05Housing, energy, medical care, whatever it is, how do we work together so that all of our citizens can have accessibility and affordability for the things they need for their families,
00:26for themselves, and for the communities within which we live?
00:33And so that's our challenge.
00:37And so when we see what's going on in the country today, it's time for us to turn to each other, not on each other, to each other.
00:54And figure out how can we best work together to make things better for this great country.
01:06Now I'm going to ask whoever's got the slide, and they put up slide number 13.
01:12Number 13.
01:25Y'all can let me know when it's up there.
01:29First they came, you just passed it.
01:34Many of you remember this.
01:36You've heard it over and over again.
01:38And I want you to think about this.
01:44Pastor Martin Namalia wrote this poem when he saw what was going on in Germany back in the 1930s.
01:58And he talked about the fact that people were turning on each other.
02:10First they came for the communists.
02:13And just think about what we're experiencing today.
02:19Then they came for the socialists.
02:24Think about what's going on today.
02:26Then they came for the trade unionists.
02:32Then they came for the Jews.
02:40And by the time they got to me, no one was left to speak up.
02:48I want you to look at slide number two.
02:56And then I'll be
02:57answer your question.
03:05Martin Luther King Jr. wrote these words
03:07when he was sitting in the Birmingham City Jail
03:20back in 1963.
03:24And when King wrote these words,
03:27he had received a letter
03:29from eight clergymen,
03:33one of whom had South Carolina connections,
03:37telling him that they wanted him to leave Birmingham
03:40because he was a destructive force.
03:45But they said to him in the letters,
03:47now, Dr. King,
03:49we don't want you to get it wrong.
03:52We believe in your cause.
03:53We believe that your cause is right.
03:59But your timing is wrong.
04:02And King, when he answered them,
04:05he answered them saying,
04:09the time is neutral.
04:13I think he used four words,
04:15time itself is neutral.
04:19Time is never right and time is never wrong.
04:22Time is always where we make it.
04:27And then King went on to say
04:29that he was coming to the conclusion
04:30that the people of ill will
04:33in our society
04:36was making a much better use of time
04:39than the people of good will.
04:43I want you to think about that.
04:47He came to the conclusion
04:48that the people of ill will
04:50was making a much better use of time
04:54than the people of good will.
04:58And then he concluded
05:00with these words.
05:03We will have to repent.
05:06Not just for the vitriolic words
05:08and actions of the bad people,
05:12but for the appalling silence
05:17of the good people.
05:22Too many good people were silent
05:24last year.
05:28And we are now reaping
05:31what was sold
05:35by some bad people
05:39last year.
05:42But we,
05:44as a people,
05:48as citizens of this great country,
05:52have got
05:52to break our silence.
05:57Your vote is your voice.
05:59we must use
06:03our voices
06:04to help preserve
06:07this great democracy.
06:10It doesn't mean
06:11we'll always agree.
06:14It doesn't mean
06:15it will always be pleasant.
06:19When I sat on the board
06:21of this institution,
06:22we had some
06:24unpleasant discussions
06:26at times.
06:29But it was a blessing
06:30for me.
06:34It was a blessing
06:35for this institution.
06:37Because that's how we grow.
06:40By listening to
06:42different opinions.
06:45Learning from each other.
06:48And that's what we want
06:49to do tonight.
06:49Now,
06:53I'm not going to
06:55raise my voice.
06:59I'm not going to be
07:01unpleasant in any way.
07:04And I would hope
07:05that we can have
07:07answer your questions,
07:09we can have discussions,
07:11and do so in such a way
07:13that when our evening
07:15here is over,
07:16all of us will feel
07:18that we have benefited
07:19from having come out
07:22on this rainy night.
07:24I thought the only place
07:26that people didn't know
07:27how to drive
07:27when it rained
07:29was in Columbia.
07:33But I can tell you
07:34that people out on
07:35I-9 to 5
07:37between here and Greenville,
07:38they don't know
07:40how to drive either.
07:42So we cut it real close
07:43what we got here.
07:45And with that,
07:45I'm going to be
07:47answering the questions
07:49you may have.
07:50Now,
07:51I'm a pretty good politician,
07:53which means
07:55I'm going to respond
07:57to all your questions.