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Storytime, friends.
This feels like an appropriate moment to talk about the time I tried to start a jewelry business and ended up fleeing my makerspace after someone used it to make a shield with this exact symbol on it. https://twitter.com/lilsarg/status/1276942692619038722
This feels like an appropriate moment to talk about the time I tried to start a jewelry business and ended up fleeing my makerspace after someone used it to make a shield with this exact symbol on it. https://twitter.com/lilsarg/status/1276942692619038722
I was a Member Advocate. I was a relatively new member, so I wasn't entirely comfortable taking on this role. I didn't think I could effectively guide new members. I was asked to take it, frankly, b/c I'm a Black woman and they tried to keep a man and a woman in the role...
Problematic? Yes.
But I told myself that at least they were recognizing how homogenous the space was. They were trying to create a safer community for Black people to connect, learn, and make cool stuff! If they got it a bit wrong, that was to be expected.
But I told myself that at least they were recognizing how homogenous the space was. They were trying to create a safer community for Black people to connect, learn, and make cool stuff! If they got it a bit wrong, that was to be expected.
One day, not long into my tenure, I received an email to the Member Advocate team complaining about a member. I searched my inbox for this member's name to see if he'd ever come up before and began reading through the results. I almost missed this.
I didn't recognize the symbol and would never have made any connections had my boyfriend not happened to be looking over my shoulder at the right moment. He's a mod for r/science & has experience spotting dog whistles & other signs those posting aren't doing so in good faith.
This same member being reported for something unrelated had not only made this thing in the space months before but had emailed the entire membership about it. I immediately brought this to the attention of the Board as well as the other Member Advocate in my reply.
At first, the response was heartening. The member who'd made the initial complaint had been there during at least part of the woodworking process and had questioned the symbol on the shield. The member creating the shield denied any connection to Nazi ideology. This is important.
The member also corroborated my suspicion that this symbol was used by Nazis. He googled. He found the symbol used in places he described as "hate sites". A Board member suggested the person (we'll call him PN for "probable Nazi" from here) be suspended while they deliberated.
This is the point that my hope died.
The very next response balked at the idea of suspending PN's membership. This wasn't how things had been done in the past. (I don't know whether anyone had ever been caught making things with Nazi symbols on them in the space before.)
I was absolutely crushed. I'd already communicated that I did not want to risk my own safety by speaking to this man. I was afraid to enter the space at all. In fact, after all of this played out, I didn't enter the space without my white boyfriend.
And yet, just a few emails into what would become a weeks-long discussion, the people in power were already prioritizing the feelings of a man WHO HAD ALREADY CAUSED HARM over my physical (and emotional) safety.
My disappointment over the way they handled this situation only deepened over time.
"That symbol's use pre-dates the Nazis!"
"He doesn't seem hateful, just ignorant."
"Well, we'll certainly figure it out faster if YOU talk to him."
"That symbol's use pre-dates the Nazis!"
"He doesn't seem hateful, just ignorant."
"Well, we'll certainly figure it out faster if YOU talk to him."
Lots of symbols get co-opted and warped.
Ignorance is not an excuse to do harm. ALSO, recall that thing I told you to remember. He'd ALREADY BEEN QUESTIONED about this symbol. Even if he wasn't sure, why wouldn't he have researched it after being called out? Months had passed.
Ignorance is not an excuse to do harm. ALSO, recall that thing I told you to remember. He'd ALREADY BEEN QUESTIONED about this symbol. Even if he wasn't sure, why wouldn't he have researched it after being called out? Months had passed.
That was another needless obstacle. Because some time had already passed, some thought it was too late to bring up the shield. I had never seen the photo before. I didn't read those emails b/c I didn't need to. Once I got new information, I acted on it.
All this time, I was afraid for myself and for the scant few other Black people in the space. I couldn't focus at work. I was responding to calls, emails, Slack messages, trying to encourage some kind of action. I didn't want to see or speak to PN for obvious reasons.
In the end, PN got a warning and I eventually left the space forever. Any trust I'd had in the org's leadership evaporated. Most were so afraid to make a mistake that refused to take decisive action and caused additional harm in the process.
Would I love to have access to metalworking tools right now? To a woodshop? Absolutely.
But it's not worth my safety or my mental health.
But it's not worth my safety or my mental health.
I say again that you need to cultivate spaces where Black people are (and feel) safe and supported. It's not enough to say you'd like to hire more Black people or that you want to invite more Black people into your community. You have to do the work. You have to SHOW me I'm safe.
Some questions to ask yourself. I wrote these with tech companies in mind but most of them are pretty standard considerations. https://twitter.com/AishaBlake/status/1268230982194380806?s=20
When you protect people like PN & the ACTUAL NAZIS in the photo at the expense of Black people, you’re doing more than “playing devil’s advocate”. You’re hurting people, driving them out, and making it harder for them to thrive.
Your impact is more important than your intent.
Your impact is more important than your intent.
