Media Free Diaspora

Have Courage--Be Kind

Now is a time to reconsider the safety pin symbol.

The backlash over safety pins and allies, explained

...What gets lost in the fight to deem the safety pin movement good or bad, or to write it off as a facile white crutch, is that a lot of people in this country are feeling a very real sense of helplessness right now. Being disgusted by one human attacking another because of the color of their skin or their religious beliefs isn’t partisan. Lots of people feel a very real need to speak out about these atrocities and fight fear, but don’t know how — and if wearing a safety pin helps them start to do so, we shouldn’t condemn them for it.

“I’d like you to consider not ruining something that could help this one, vulnerable group, just because some people misinterpreted its meaning or because it doesn’t help the much greater danger you’re facing,” film director Lexi Alexander wrote in a blog post about the importance of the pin to Muslim Americans. “We are all afraid.”

The pin was never meant to fix institutional racism, and perhaps applauding it as a gesture, a start, a beginning — in addition to being honest about its limitations (especially to those wearing them) — is the way to celebrate it. We should all be asking what else we can do, rather than acting like it shouldn’t exist.

#safetypin #ProtectTheOppressed #courage #kindness #MediaFreeDiaspora