Do we need an antiracist rainbow flag? What should it look like?
July 18, 2019 3:34 PM Subscribe
Britain is getting to the point that i think i need an antiracist equivalent of the rainbow flag, something that says simply 'safe space' 'i hate racism', not a proactive fighting antifascist emblem, that could be worn as a pin or on a wall. Any ideas? Anything to bear in mind?
Britain is getting to the point that you actually have to stand up and be counted on the racism thing. Both Prime Ministerial candidates have supported racism and we've had institutional racism actually instituted as institutional policy (e.g. Windrush, lies about documents to EU when deporting, camps, endless examples). I'm not willing to fight or die for anything, even myself, I don't want an antifascist flag or a political debate. I just want something that says the same thing as the rainbow flag, the lazy, passive version of support: 'safe space' 'i am an enemy of racism'.
Anyone else see the point of it, and any ideas? I was thinking polka dots and browns to pinks but i don't know. Stripes would just blur, checks would just look like gingham. It's got to be visually succinct and catchy and easy on the eye, because it's to communicate visually; it's got to be as obvious as possible; i'd prefer nonverbal, because words provoke confrontation but images and gestures don't. I want the sort of thing you could wear on a pin on your top at work or stick on the wall in the background.
I'm interested in any points people have to make about this. I'm white, i'd say i'm racist as i definitely treat all people differently based on all sorts of things but especially when i was mentally ill, i believed people of colour were imposters fake foreign people whereas i was the real foreign person they'd stolen my place, and i totally have a thing for men with brown eyes, but i'm antiracist in the other ways, i don't agree with all the other racism, who cares where people came from? I mean i literally just don't get it, i'm just sick of having to listen to all this racist crap and argue with it. So i guess i want it to say "shut up about immigrants being criminals" and "i don't give a monkey's if you wear a niqab, i'm quite happy talking to you, it makes no difference to me", because I find from experience that it doesn't, "come here and talk to me if you find other people exclude you, you're welcome here, i believe in equality and freedom".
I don't want it to say, "this is a righteous place in which only the most correct ways of speaking are used" because i want it to mean something lazier than that. I tend to perceive the rainbow flag as basically jolly and 'sex is a good thing! guilt is a bad thing!' I want something jolly and neutral. I want a baseline from which, in terms of antiracism and righteousness, you can work upwords.
I accept all the Black Lives Matter and micro-aggressions stuff, but I want a jolly, fun, anti-hate symbol, because i think as soon as you think about guilt or depressing stuff you forget the positive, you can only have either a positive or a negative feeling at any one time. I frankly just want to escape all the hatred, not micro-analyse it. I want a sign or flag under which we can do this together. The visual symbol of linking arms and of coming towards one another in love and trust.
Britain is getting to the point that you actually have to stand up and be counted on the racism thing. Both Prime Ministerial candidates have supported racism and we've had institutional racism actually instituted as institutional policy (e.g. Windrush, lies about documents to EU when deporting, camps, endless examples). I'm not willing to fight or die for anything, even myself, I don't want an antifascist flag or a political debate. I just want something that says the same thing as the rainbow flag, the lazy, passive version of support: 'safe space' 'i am an enemy of racism'.
Anyone else see the point of it, and any ideas? I was thinking polka dots and browns to pinks but i don't know. Stripes would just blur, checks would just look like gingham. It's got to be visually succinct and catchy and easy on the eye, because it's to communicate visually; it's got to be as obvious as possible; i'd prefer nonverbal, because words provoke confrontation but images and gestures don't. I want the sort of thing you could wear on a pin on your top at work or stick on the wall in the background.
I'm interested in any points people have to make about this. I'm white, i'd say i'm racist as i definitely treat all people differently based on all sorts of things but especially when i was mentally ill, i believed people of colour were imposters fake foreign people whereas i was the real foreign person they'd stolen my place, and i totally have a thing for men with brown eyes, but i'm antiracist in the other ways, i don't agree with all the other racism, who cares where people came from? I mean i literally just don't get it, i'm just sick of having to listen to all this racist crap and argue with it. So i guess i want it to say "shut up about immigrants being criminals" and "i don't give a monkey's if you wear a niqab, i'm quite happy talking to you, it makes no difference to me", because I find from experience that it doesn't, "come here and talk to me if you find other people exclude you, you're welcome here, i believe in equality and freedom".
I don't want it to say, "this is a righteous place in which only the most correct ways of speaking are used" because i want it to mean something lazier than that. I tend to perceive the rainbow flag as basically jolly and 'sex is a good thing! guilt is a bad thing!' I want something jolly and neutral. I want a baseline from which, in terms of antiracism and righteousness, you can work upwords.
I accept all the Black Lives Matter and micro-aggressions stuff, but I want a jolly, fun, anti-hate symbol, because i think as soon as you think about guilt or depressing stuff you forget the positive, you can only have either a positive or a negative feeling at any one time. I frankly just want to escape all the hatred, not micro-analyse it. I want a sign or flag under which we can do this together. The visual symbol of linking arms and of coming towards one another in love and trust.
Good news! Philadelphia already created an anti-racist rainbow flag!
https://philly.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15801442/new-pride-flag-philadelphia-more-color-more-pride
posted by farma at 4:03 PM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
https://philly.curbed.com/2017/6/14/15801442/new-pride-flag-philadelphia-more-color-more-pride
posted by farma at 4:03 PM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
I'm white so maybe I'm not one to make this argument, but I'm not sure there should be an anti racist flag. In past conversations I've had with poc, that kind of symbol seems to read more self-serving, like 'I'm not one of those white people, I'm one of the good ones', whereas in our society the only thing we can really do is stand up whenever and wherever we can and live with the fact that others may not know us by look.
posted by Think_Long at 4:14 PM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Think_Long at 4:14 PM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
Making a statement about something like this, constantly, helps make it more normalized. Hate shouldn't be the only side represented.
That said, I'm also in favor -- strongly in favor -- of making it normalized to judge people by actions and actually listening, rather than cheap symbols. We need both.
posted by amtho at 5:37 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
That said, I'm also in favor -- strongly in favor -- of making it normalized to judge people by actions and actually listening, rather than cheap symbols. We need both.
posted by amtho at 5:37 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
One of my friends wears a pin designed by Daniel Quasar, which incorporates intersectionality into the Pride flag. So that covers a lot of bases.
posted by gaspode at 6:41 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by gaspode at 6:41 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I (North American) really like it when nonBlack people wear Black Lives Matter stuff. If a person is brave enough to publicly say Black Lives Matter (which is controversial in some circles), then I trust they'll probably be making other efforts to be a decent ally as well.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 7:14 PM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by pseudostrabismus at 7:14 PM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
In 2016 there was a movement for wearing a safety pin - more or less to symbolize that you were a “safe” person I think? Reaction was mixed.
posted by Secret Sparrow at 8:32 PM on July 18, 2019
posted by Secret Sparrow at 8:32 PM on July 18, 2019
Random House is currently running a contest for an antiracism symbol in conjunction with the book How to Be an Antiracist.
posted by Violet Hour at 11:08 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Violet Hour at 11:08 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I’ve seen these signs in a lot of yards around Seattle, and presumably they’re in other cities too. All of these orgs are US based but are open source and if nothing else may give you a design jumping-off point:
All Are Welcome Here
Welcome Your Neighbors
In This House We Believe... (link to a Unitarian Church with sign design, not religious)
posted by zinful at 1:06 AM on July 19, 2019
All Are Welcome Here
Welcome Your Neighbors
In This House We Believe... (link to a Unitarian Church with sign design, not religious)
posted by zinful at 1:06 AM on July 19, 2019
for what it's worth, a month ago the gruniad ran this, which features the Pride rainbow with a black and brown stripe at the top.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 3:15 AM on July 19, 2019
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 3:15 AM on July 19, 2019
In my neighbourhood there are a couple of houses with signs that say something like "Immigrants welcome here"
posted by quaking fajita at 4:11 AM on July 19, 2019
posted by quaking fajita at 4:11 AM on July 19, 2019
I've seen the rainbow flag with brown & black stripes like farma linked, or brown & black triangle like gaspode linked, in the specific contexts of supporting LGBT antiracism.
All the symbols I can think of come off as trite or cheesy. Like a stereotypical image of little stick figures or hands in multiple skin tones, or the Coexist symbol. It's not really taking a stand. It's paying lip service to the idea of diversity without doing any work.
I'm not sure if there is a universally recognisable symbol that will do what you want here. Slogans will work better instead. Immigrants/refugees welcome. Black lives matter. No human being is illegal. Families belong together. Etc. London is Open? In a UK context, an EU flag can symbolise an openness to other cultures and people (among other things. YMMV).
posted by Gordafarin at 6:11 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
All the symbols I can think of come off as trite or cheesy. Like a stereotypical image of little stick figures or hands in multiple skin tones, or the Coexist symbol. It's not really taking a stand. It's paying lip service to the idea of diversity without doing any work.
I'm not sure if there is a universally recognisable symbol that will do what you want here. Slogans will work better instead. Immigrants/refugees welcome. Black lives matter. No human being is illegal. Families belong together. Etc. London is Open? In a UK context, an EU flag can symbolise an openness to other cultures and people (among other things. YMMV).
posted by Gordafarin at 6:11 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I tend to perceive the rainbow flag as basically jolly and 'sex is a good thing! guilt is a bad thing!'
That's... really not what it means. I mean, not that it means the opposite of that, either. But the rainbow flag is not, itself, a thing that was invented to show you're an ally. It was adopted by members of a specific set of identities to refer to people within that specific set of identities. It is not there to make allies feel better about being allies, or to make straight people feel better about their choices in the context of our existence in general. It is not a symbol of "we're all in this together" as inclusive to cishet people.
Whatever you want, it does not seem to be an equivalent of this.
posted by Sequence at 7:53 AM on July 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
That's... really not what it means. I mean, not that it means the opposite of that, either. But the rainbow flag is not, itself, a thing that was invented to show you're an ally. It was adopted by members of a specific set of identities to refer to people within that specific set of identities. It is not there to make allies feel better about being allies, or to make straight people feel better about their choices in the context of our existence in general. It is not a symbol of "we're all in this together" as inclusive to cishet people.
Whatever you want, it does not seem to be an equivalent of this.
posted by Sequence at 7:53 AM on July 19, 2019 [6 favorites]
The thing that comes to my mind is some kind of handshake where one hand is black and one hand is white. You could put it on a festively colored background if you want to make it cheerful.
posted by sockanalia at 10:10 AM on July 19, 2019
posted by sockanalia at 10:10 AM on July 19, 2019
Response by poster: @Think_Long "that kind of symbol seems to read more self-serving, like 'I'm not one of those white people, I'm one of the good ones'" there are no POC round here (maybe 15 in a 20 mile radius?), it's entirely for my benefit - i'm trying to not have to ever hear any of those (swearwords) opinions ever again or i shall scream in a way even caps lock couldn't begin to convey.... i am literally going spare
posted by maiamaia at 7:14 AM on July 24, 2019
posted by maiamaia at 7:14 AM on July 24, 2019
Response by poster: @Pseudostrabismus "If a person is brave enough to publicly say Black Lives Matter (which is controversial in some circles)" here, it's considered obvious common sense and bizarre that anyone thinks that american police don't kill black people, etc. A certain blindness to one's own/ one's own regime's dear leaders' faults is in operation....
posted by maiamaia at 7:16 AM on July 24, 2019
posted by maiamaia at 7:16 AM on July 24, 2019
Response by poster: "It's not really taking a stand. It's paying lip service to the idea of diversity without doing any work."
I'm not really good at explaining what it's for, and i want to be clear that it's not about activism. I don't know much about the history of the rainbow flag, which was interesting to learn, but i have heard that people display it all over the place in san francisco. Just hanging a flag up isn't activism itself, but people described to me seeing all these flags all over the place and feeling really welcomed. That was kind of what i was going for: a sign that stated what was felt here, unambiguously. Decor.
My logic for not using words, and not being proactive, on the other hand, is harder for me to explain, though simple. When men yell stuff at you in the street, if you say anything back i learned, it escalates. But for some reason, if you flick the V at them or the local equivalent, they don't respond, it doesn't escalate and you're never in danger. I learned this in the streets. The absence of words somehow prevents argument/conflict starting.
Now i think it's very powerful to state or start or form a base or background from which, without argument, something is accepted. When you're in a church, you feel you share a background in common with the other people attending and you can relax, you feel safe. This unspokenness is very powerful and can draw people together. Without words, you can set a mood and convey an emotion that unites people. This means that people who were persuadable/borderline would shift and join in, part of what i want, as i believe they're mindlessly repeating rubbish not expressing themselves.
(I think the reason words lead to arguments and dissension, not coming together, is words lead to specifics, and you end up in party politics etc which is the ground where these debates are usually held. But isn't really the necessary place to hold them. I suspect it's also something to do with conversation, the way when you start with words you have to keep going and respond, you can't have a conversation of just emotion.)
I think it's stupid to have one, but then needing a flag for 'i don't care who loves who' is stupid too. (It may not have that meaning for queer people, but it is understood that way by lots of outsiders.) I don't want words or party-specific because then that starts a conversation, "oh you support antifa?" "oh you vote Democrat?" i don't need another argument. I want to convey my obvious opinion on a huge swathe of stuff (eg immigration legislation, UN handling of the Rohingya, the Windrush affair) without it starting a conversation with anyone, and i want to stop such conversations starting where they offend me. But i also want to signal to anyone minority (opinion or POC) that this opinion is held. The rainbow flag, the Nazi swastika and religious symbols like star & crescent are the sort of things i had in mind, but you can see why i want for the secular one as an example! But the nuclear symbol etc are identical examples - they symbolise universally, start no conversation and use no words. You take it as fact, you accept it unquestioningly, it's a 'background fact' of your world, i want to shift the normal to no racism tolerated here as a background fact.
All the replies were really good so i won't favourite any, thanks ever so much:)
posted by maiamaia at 7:36 AM on July 24, 2019
I'm not really good at explaining what it's for, and i want to be clear that it's not about activism. I don't know much about the history of the rainbow flag, which was interesting to learn, but i have heard that people display it all over the place in san francisco. Just hanging a flag up isn't activism itself, but people described to me seeing all these flags all over the place and feeling really welcomed. That was kind of what i was going for: a sign that stated what was felt here, unambiguously. Decor.
My logic for not using words, and not being proactive, on the other hand, is harder for me to explain, though simple. When men yell stuff at you in the street, if you say anything back i learned, it escalates. But for some reason, if you flick the V at them or the local equivalent, they don't respond, it doesn't escalate and you're never in danger. I learned this in the streets. The absence of words somehow prevents argument/conflict starting.
Now i think it's very powerful to state or start or form a base or background from which, without argument, something is accepted. When you're in a church, you feel you share a background in common with the other people attending and you can relax, you feel safe. This unspokenness is very powerful and can draw people together. Without words, you can set a mood and convey an emotion that unites people. This means that people who were persuadable/borderline would shift and join in, part of what i want, as i believe they're mindlessly repeating rubbish not expressing themselves.
(I think the reason words lead to arguments and dissension, not coming together, is words lead to specifics, and you end up in party politics etc which is the ground where these debates are usually held. But isn't really the necessary place to hold them. I suspect it's also something to do with conversation, the way when you start with words you have to keep going and respond, you can't have a conversation of just emotion.)
I think it's stupid to have one, but then needing a flag for 'i don't care who loves who' is stupid too. (It may not have that meaning for queer people, but it is understood that way by lots of outsiders.) I don't want words or party-specific because then that starts a conversation, "oh you support antifa?" "oh you vote Democrat?" i don't need another argument. I want to convey my obvious opinion on a huge swathe of stuff (eg immigration legislation, UN handling of the Rohingya, the Windrush affair) without it starting a conversation with anyone, and i want to stop such conversations starting where they offend me. But i also want to signal to anyone minority (opinion or POC) that this opinion is held. The rainbow flag, the Nazi swastika and religious symbols like star & crescent are the sort of things i had in mind, but you can see why i want for the secular one as an example! But the nuclear symbol etc are identical examples - they symbolise universally, start no conversation and use no words. You take it as fact, you accept it unquestioningly, it's a 'background fact' of your world, i want to shift the normal to no racism tolerated here as a background fact.
All the replies were really good so i won't favourite any, thanks ever so much:)
posted by maiamaia at 7:36 AM on July 24, 2019
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Or are you looking for a symbol or emblem that doesn't have words?
I'm not sure if it's possible to sort by country of origin though so most of these things may be from the US and you'll probably end up paying more in shipping costs than the cost of the button, unless maybe you order a bunch and distribute them to friends.
posted by tivalasvegas at 3:44 PM on July 18, 2019