After the protest, the question lingered: if this was for everyone, why did it look like it was only for some?
It’s been about 24 hours since the #HandsOff protests.
In my small corner of the social media world, something oddly noticeable has surfaced. I don’t have any answers, but I can repeat the questions and maybe surface a few more. At the very least, I hope to encourage discourse.
Here are the questions I keep hearing:
- Why do the protest images show mostly white people?
- Where are people of color? LGBTQ+ folks? Hispanic, Asian, disabled, or visibly young people? Why do they seem so underrepresented in the photos?
The absence is obvious enough that I commented on it when a German acquaintance remarked on the “lily-whiteness” of the images. In retrospect, I wish I’d responded better. (Old guys can still learn—just slowly.)
I don’t have a theory to push or a narrative to promote. But something feels… off. When protests purport to speak for “all of us” but don’t reflect all of us, that’s a problem. The question isn’t just who’s showing up, but also who isn’t—and why.
Is it about trust? Messaging? History? Access? Or maybe exhaustion?
Sometimes people aren’t present because they were never really invited.
Sometimes they were invited but not seen.
Sometimes they show up and are cropped out.
There are many reasons. But there’s also a responsibility—especially among those who do show up—to notice the absences and ask better questions.
Maybe Marvin Gaye had it right all along. The answers might be hidden between the verses:
? “Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying…”
— Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (Live)
For more reflections on political absence, identity, and the dangers of silence, you might also want to read:
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