Safety Pins?

So, within a day or two of the election, I saw this meme about safety pins. Apparently the practice originated in the UK post-brexit, when they were experiencing a rise in hate crimes, similar to what we are seeing in the US post-election. As I understood it, you wear a safety pin to identify yourself as a 'safe space' for anyone feeling like they need a safe space.

I thought this was such a great idea - I desperately wanted to do something, anything, and this was do-able. I want to be a safe space, sign me up. I dug through my house and found a safety pin and and wore it when out grocery shopping with my wife. I think it actually helped me be more aware - I was paying attention to my surroundings, looking and listening in case there was a situation that needed a safe space.

And then, maybe 24 or 48 hours after I'd first heard about it, I saw some critiques of the safety pin notion.

For example, A white nationalist source was apparently urging their followers to wear the safety pin to lure people, only to harass or do violence to them. Vile, repugnant, fuckery most foul.

Or this article, So you want to wear a safety pin?, discussing what real-world things you need to think about when declaring yourself the safe space, the person who will defend others. It talks about making a plan, or plans, being prepared to de-escalate a situation, and being prepared for violence. This article shook me up - it made wearing that pin a true, real, responsibility. Was I prepared to step in to fraught, emotional, intense situation instead of walking by? Was I prepared to take a punch for that stranger who needed help? Are your answers the same whether you are alone, with a friend, or with kids? It also was a sad reminder for me as a white male that for some, the risks of all this happening to you have nothing to do with whether you're wearing a safety pin.

Another key perspective that I first saw here, a huffpost piece that says "No, white people, you don't get to put on a pin that says 'I'm a good guy' after you just elected Trump." It points out that a big part of why I might wear the safety pin isn't to stand up for others (which can be done, obviously, without a pin), but to assuage my guilt about being in the demographic that supported Trump and all the horrible baggage he ran on. To point myself out as 'one of the good ones'. Another article (I connect with a lot of what Garrett says here) even calls it a 'pathological need for praise'.

And yes, guilty as charged, I reflected. I do want to have a sign that says I didn't vote for him. I do feel guilty and ashamed of my demographic, and embarrassingly (and subconsciously until reading that piece), I want some credit for not being a bad guy, and that is ridiculous.

I also want to actually take positive action, though. To actually be a safe space for people who need it - that is also real. And I've started. I've been in contact with my state and federal representatives, I started following the ACLU and joined the MN chapter. I've signed a couple petitions and I've started trying to educate myself more, too. I looked for a professional organization supporting minorities or marginalized populations in eye research and I'm not impressed with what I found.

Back to the topic. I won't be wearing the safety pin around; I'll just be trying to take positive action. I will remind myself that I don't need credit or praise for doing so - that being a decent human being is expected, not noteworthy.

ooo, i like that last sentence.