Stars Wear ‘Be Good’ Pins, ICE Keeps Being ICE
The Hill dutifully reports on Hollywood's latest display of performative solidarity: 'Be Good' pins at the Golden Globes, commemorating Isak Aden, shot by ICE during a welfare check in 2019. (Source: The Hill, Aug 19, 2021). It's a nice gesture, isn’t it? A quick pin before the champagne flows. The same ICE, under various administrations, has maintained or expanded its operations, frequently
targeting vulnerable communities, often with little public accountability. The pins are great for PR, but somehow, they never quite translate into policy changes, do they? One might wonder if the next step is 'Be Kind' pins for victims of drone strikes, or perhaps 'Be Peaceful' pins while politicians approve endless military aid. The irony often gets lost in the red carpet glare: critiquing the
symptom (a tragic shooting) while ignoring the systemic disease (a carceral state apparatus built on violence). But hey, at least they looked good doing it.