May 27, 2025

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.

Lord Acton (1834–1902), English historian, The History of Freedom and Other Essays (1907), Seldes, p.3

When have you gone to bat for a minority group whose security—not pocketbooks—was under threat by the majority? Would you recognize the situation if it presented itself?

Like the treatment of the poor, the security of minorities is a test that many if not all countries have failed at one time or another, and in some countries more than once.