Tom Schweizer
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Tom Schweizer
UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS
TO BE WHITE AND PRIVILEGED
JOURNAL

Pins and Buttons

12/30/2016

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There seems to be a lot of commentary going on about wearing safety pins.  I wore one the first two days I had first read about them.  Then an ally pointed our the paternalistic message I was sending.   So I took mine off.  Now I wear eitiher a Black Lives Matter or one that reads Stand Against Racism.

I have just returned from shopping where I was waiting behind and chatting with a black woman in the self-checkout line.  She explained to me that although it appeared a register was open, it in fact had a flashing red light on a pole above it, indicating that it was out of order.  Soon thereafter, another working registered open, and she proceeded to check out.
Just seconds after she left I heard a voice whisper in my ear “So typical, just like they wait chatting on the phone when the light turns green.”

I turned to see middle-aged white male and said, “I don’t even know what that means.”  As I faced him, he saw that I was wearing a “Black Lives Matter” pin.  I could see the surprise and embarrassment in his face when he saw my pin, and quickly scurried off in another direction.  

​I think my pin well represented me today.  What type of pin would best benefit what we believe in?

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    Tom Schweizer

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