Donald Trump and white supremacy have been spoken about in the same breath many times since he became the president of the US. However, the humble knitting community that has, until now, had nothing to do with politics of the US has recently taken a stance and a badass one at that. Ravelry, a social network for knitting enthusiasts, recently took decided to stand strong against open Donald Trump support and white supremacy. Needless to say, they are blowing everyone's mind on the internet. They announced on Sunday (June 23) that they were banning expressions of support for Donald Trump and white supremacy. They linked the two subjects and said, "We cannot provide a space that is inclusive of all and also allow support for open white supremacy. Support of the Trump administration is undeniably support for white supremacy." Trump Slammed for 'silence' on White Supremacist Threat.
A Ravelry forum moderator, also wrote on Twitter, thanking Ravelry that "As one of many mods of busy (NON-POLITICAL, SOCIAL) Ravelry forums, I can say that the emotional labor of defusing angry & ugly situations where casual hate & intolerance is directed at queer, non-Christian, or minority people is frakking exhausting. Thank you @ravelry."
Ravelry taking a stand against issues as big as white supremacy and its link to Donal Trump is being lauded at all levels, especially when big sites like Facebook and YouTube, have struggled with how to deal with content related to white supremacy, nationalism, and separatists.
Here are some of the reactions Ravelry has received on Twitter:
A social network for knitting just made every other website look like goddamn cowards https://t.co/1R40mFUrxu
— Bryan Menegus (@BryanDisagrees) June 23, 2019
For sure
— KatherineB (@Kat41150B) June 24, 2019
Supporters everywhere
I think I need to take up knitting. This is a community I want to be a part of. Thank you for taking a stand.
— Madeleine Morris (@remittancegirl) June 24, 2019
This
IOW, @ravelry didn't adopt this new policy out of the blue. Some designer(s) and member(s) who support Trump harassed, trolled, and doxed other Ravelry members. They did so out of hatred and mean-spiritedness. @ravelry *didn't* ban all Trump supporters.
— pjwould ::: (@javajunco) June 24, 2019
However, many also found an issue with the decision being intolerant and non-inclusive:
also Ravelry: We are Inclusive, Caring, Diverse, and we will ban anyone who says otherwise.
— CaseClosed (@wds08) June 24, 2019
Negative comments
Who wants who to die? I really don’t get where this nonsense is coming from.
— kingjaffyjoe (@kingjaffyjoe8) June 24, 2019
This
It’s illegal to deny commercial services to California residents on the basis of political affiliation.
— Jake Taylor (@jaketaylor1020) June 23, 2019
This policy update has given a potential power to the knitters' community to have important discussions about the roles and responsibilities that has never been done before. The knitters recently expressed their discontent with the "pussy hats" that thousands of women knitted for the Women’s March in protest of Donald Trump’s election.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2019 01:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).