Selective solidarity

Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an interesting character. One of the ways he was identified as the man behind the bombings was how he used a commonly used phrase: "you cannot have your cake and eat it too." Almost the entire world used this phrase in this form. Kaczynski used another version of it, which was, "you cannot eat your cake and have it too". And that by the way was the right version. Everyone else had it wrong and perhaps still do.

I used the above as an example to explain how we get words, phrases and their meanings wrong. One such commonly misinterpreted word is solidarity. Last week, I was having a heated discussion with a Black American about the Democratic party. Actually, the person was the sister of George Floyd. She was arguing in favour of the Democratic party. She said that Trump was a liar and a criminal.

I told her that I had actually voted for Biden in 2020 and was disgusted by Trump and the Republican party's denial of climate change but that I was deeply angry over Biden's direct role in killing thousands of innocent Palestinian children in Gaza. She did not know anything about it and even when I explained, she did not want to know much about it either. That made me very angry and I pushed her to explain why she doesn't care that so many innocent children were killed by Israel with bombs provided by Biden. She shrugged it off as not an issue that affected her or was related to her life.

I argued back that I had protested in support of her late brother when he was brutally killed by the police. I asked her if his life or death affected me in any way or if I even knew who he was. I explained how I showed solidarity with the black people. But it was not getting registered with her. To her solidarity was standing with her Black brethren. And that is when I realised that this was all about standing for your own people.

I was quickly reminded of the speeches I hear every Friday during the jummah prayers inside the masjid. The imam there also always talks about supporting the Muslims and standing up for the Palestinians not because that as Muslims we should stand up against injustice and speak truth to power but because the Palestinians are Muslims. What if they were Christians? Should we not care then?

I am an immigrant myself in America but I do have one problem with the majority of the immigrant communities here. They form their own bubbles in which they live and work like little communes. This Vietnamese family I know once sold me their business because they were retiring. All their documents were handled by a title company that was entirely Vietnamese owned and operated. Their lawyer was a Vietnamese woman. Even the alarm service for the business was provided by a Vietnamese sales representative. I was instantly critical but then I realised that my journey in America had been no different. My first friends here were Pakistanis. My first employer was a Pakistani. I purchased my first car from a Pakistani. Even my first bank account was opened by a Pakistani banker. And my only business partners are Pakistani people. Nothing common among us. They read no books. They don't even know that I actually write for a newspaper. They believe 9/11 was done by Bush and the Coronavirus was made by Bill Gates. But they are Pakistanis and that is why we are business partners.

I was once trying to give food to a homeless white man. My business partner riding with me immediately objected to it saying that I should help a Muslim instead. That is solidarity to the majority now. If we don't believe in the same rights for people we don't like or who don't look like us, then we don't believe in those rights at all. I would rather be the Kaczynski of solidarity.