The green and white ribbon represents solidarity and support for the Muslim community.
I’ve been deeply distressed by the wave of Islamophobia that’s swept over this country and have felt angry, frustrated, sad, and ultimately totally powerless to do anything about it. Sure, I’ve tried to “fight the good fight” on social media, expressing my horror at the violence and bile that’s been gleefully directed at Muslims (and Sikhs and anyone else who looks vaguely Arab), but because I’m already surrounded by a lot of good people I realize that more often than not I’m preaching to the choir. As symbolically important as they may be in our online society, hashtags and tweets don’t seem to be doing much to stem the tide of hate in the real world and I feel strongly that I need to do something substantive before we pass the point of no return.
Honestly, my first thought was to pin a sign that read “I don’t hate Muslims” to my bag but that’s not terribly practical, plus it reads pretty glib, and I don’t want anyone to think that I’m making light of the very real consequences of unchecked Islamophobia. I saw that Michael Moore was suggesting that people hold up signs that read “We are all Muslim”, and while I appreciate what he’s trying to do I don’t want to appropriate anybody else’s struggle. As a white man I certainly don’t understand what it’s like to be marginalized in this country because of the color of my skin or my faith. What I want to do is let Muslims know that I don’t hate them because they’re different than me.
To be clear, I don’t support ISIS or any other form of Islamic extremism, just as I don’t support the Westboro Baptist Church or the KKK or the people shooting up Planned Parenthood clinics or anyone else who would twist faith to make vulnerable people do hateful things. Hate is not exclusive to any one religion, but it should be the enemy of them all. I hope that’s something we can all agree on. So what do I suggest we do?
I’ve come to think of Islamophobia as a disease, so I bought some green and white ribbon and pinned it to my coat in the tradition of AIDS awareness: green because it has significance in Islam and white for peace. I hope this raises awareness of this horrible disease, but more than anything I want it to serve as a silent show of solidarity. I want to reach the people that I’m not already friends with on Facebook.
If one of our Muslim brothers and sisters is being harassed because of their faith, if they are told by a stranger on the train that they don’t belong in this country, if someone at school calls them a terrorist because they’re wearing a headscarf, I hope with all of my heart that they would then see this ribbon pinned to the chest of a total stranger and know there’s at least one person in the crowd that doesn’t hate them or feel like they should “go back where they came from”. They belong here.
It’s a small gesture, I know, but I feel like if I don’t do something – anything – then I’m part of the problem.
If you’d like to join me, please share this message: wearing a ribbon isn’t going to help if no one knows what it stands for. I’d also be thrilled if you pinned a green and white ribbon to your coat or bag or lapel as well. You can easily make one for a couple of bucks worth of ribbon and a safety pin if you don’t already have the stuff hanging around the house. If you do end up buying a couple of spools of ribbon perhaps you’d be kind enough to make a couple extras and share them with folks around you.