Would you help hide Anne Frank?

When I was in culinary school, I asked one of my new friends, who happened to be a black man, why no one would talk to me or sit by me. My class was full of 20 and 30-something people, mostly military people starting a new career. He just laughed at me and said, “They see you as an older white woman with some bread in her pocket, so they can’t relate to you”. I told him, Well, you’re sitting next to me and he said, “I don’t see you that way, I just see you as a nice person,” and so our friendship was formed. 

I have always felt like I was an approachable person, and I always look out for the little guy, but this morning, I woke with a jolt from a dream, and it made me question my whole existence. I don’t know if it is because I started watching Season 6 of The Handmaid’s Tale or the news has started creeping into my subconscious, but in this dream, it was America, but America 10 years down the road. In my dream, my husband and I were traveling somewhere by train, when the train stopped and a large number of what I can only assume were 2035’s version of ICE boarded. They started looking at all the passengers and asking for their “papers”. In my dream, I began to panic. I had no reason to panic, but I did. These “officers” looked at our papers, thanked my husband (which is significant, because they didn’t even really acknowledge me), and moved on to the next row of people. In this dream, I don’t remember the officers taking anyone off the train, but I remember looking at my husband and crying. When he asked me why I was crying, I said, “What if I’m someone who wouldn’t help hide Anne Frank?” That was the last thing I remember before I opened my eyes, safely back in 2025 and my bed.

I am not going to lie, I have been pretty nervous these days with what I post online. Honestly, it’s because I’m afraid, I probably don’t have any reason to be afraid, but I am afraid. I’m afraid because people who are here legally and even ones who are full-fledged American Citizens are getting snatched off the streets and sent to prisons in other states or worse, like the Maryland man, to different Countries. I’ve seen reports where Homeland Security is sending letters to immigration lawyers, telling them they need to leave the Country, and it’s scary. I am afraid there is a secret government agency out there monitoring social media and targeting people they see as part of the problem. 

I know that if you are a white woman with some bread in your pocket and a “normal” sounding last name, ICE is not going to come for you, eventually, I might be relagated to my kitchen, barefoot, and too old to be pregnant, but the chances of me landing in a prison in El Salvador are slim to none. However, I’m not going to lie, I’m even a little nervous about typing the words, ICE or El Salvador. I want to think I would be a person who would help hide Anne Frank and anyone who needed help, but I don’t know. What I know is I would 1000% hide the people closest to me, which may be enough in these strange times. What I do know is I am going to have to put shows like The Handmaid’s Tale on hold for a moment. I will not put my head in the sand and pretend that none of this is happening, but I have so many friends who fall into a category that this current Administration finds “less than,” and I worry. I worry every day that something I say will come back to haunt them. I worry every day that I’m not strong enough to hide 2025’s version of Anne Frank. I worry every day, and I don’t know what to do with that worry, which has obviously leaked into my subconscious. 

All I really know is that not many people read this silly little blog, so I feel slightly better sharing my voice without retribution, but I’m curious to know, would you help hide the 2025 version of Anne Frank no matter the cost to you or your family?