The Pin Issue

I've been thinking for a while about the issue of the safety pin.  People are taking up issues with potential allies who decide to wear a pin.  Instead of focusing on the opposition, the vitriol, hatred, racism, sexism, homophobia, rabid nationalism, and anti-immigrant bias, we begin to cannibalize each other.  Booker T. Washington and  W. E. B. Dubois have opposing views on how blacks could more effectively become members of our society. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X also had vastly different views as to the way towards progress.  Wear a pin, and be active and engaged in fighting oppression.  Let's not mistake the symbol for the actions and behaviors of champions and allies and advocates for change.  Don't be distracted by your tormentors. Don't listen to the divisive rhetoric of haters. Don't let myopia become a friend of your enemy.

If you choose not to wear a pin, don't let your preconceived notions as to the way forward get in the way of someone who may be making a first step towards justice.  Let's build coalitions instead of obstacles towards that justice.