"Silence is Violence" is an activist slogan meant to motivate white, majority groups into fighting for change. It's a contemporary spin on John Stuart Mill's more long-winded: "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing." Or on Albert Einstein's line: "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." Proponents say it's a critical element of being a good 'Ally' - that privileging comfort and passivity over fighting for other people's rights _is_ a form of complicity. Its critics see the slogan as an attach on free speech - since _demanding_ a form of speech is just as totalitarian as censoring it.

**TL;DR: Silence against injustice perpetuates complicity.** Silence most definitely is violence. If you're only willing to state concerns with prejudice when you are in the company of like-minded people, or when it suits you, then you aren't a true ally. Whether it be issues of racism or sexism, staying silent on issues to avoid confrontation or to not cause an issue is harmful because it makes you a complicit participant in prejudice. As an ally, it is your responsibility to spread awareness on issues such as racism and injustice, even if this is just a comment such as 'actually, I don't think it's okay for you to say that', or asking questions such as 'and why do you think that?'. Change can't happen without having conversations with people, and challenging their point of view.

"Silence is violence" is a phrase that essentially means "If you aren't part of the solution you're part of the problem." meaning that by being a silent bystander to an issue, you're helping the aggressor. An example I saw that explained it perfectly was if you imagine someone pushing a cup of water off a table. You have 3 options, you can stop the person from pushing the cup off the table, stand by and watch as they push the cup off the table, or help them push the cup off the table. However there are only two endings, either the cup gets pushed off the table or it doesn't. Both standing by doing nothing to intervein, and actively helping push the cup off the table will result in the same thing, the cup being pushed off the table. It's only by actively stopping them from pushing the cup off the table that will result in preventing the cup from being pushed off the table and spilling everywhere. In this analogy, staying silent during times of injustice is the standing by and simply watching as the cup is pushed off the table. It's only by standing up and advocating for what's right that you're helping those in need. Just not actively contributing to the injustice isn't the same as actively fighting against said injustice.