When I first wrote about my support for our country’s actions in Iran, it was mid to late February. A la my “cancel culture series,” I was following through on the promise I made to my fellow Islanders back in January. Each month, I would explore harms caused by cancel culture and share my thoughts on a “hot topic.” Pushback be damned.
My January and February articles drew comments of appreciation and gratitude from Islanders I have known for years and those I’ve never before met. I was stopped on the side of the road, in town, and I received appreciations by text and through social media.
But then, my article submitted for the March Issue of The Vashon Loop wasn’t published. Why? Because the topic of our American war in Iran was judged to be an international issue. Not “Island enough.”
The Vashon Loop has a policy of focusing on Island issues. As a policy, this has value and is the prerogative of the good people doing the hard work of publishing our Island’s only Island-owned newspaper. As such, I am not arguing against their policy.
However, I believe the judgment was flawed. The topic of the American war in Iran is an Island issue. Thrice over, in fact, as I will explain.
(1) Contrary to popular opinion, Vashon Island is not a small planet circling the sun with frequent ferries to Earth. We are actually a part of Earth. Similarly, almost all of us are Americans. A small number of people are visiting from abroad, foreigners here due to a temporary work visa, immigrants on the legal pathway toward citizenship, or foreigners living here without legal documentation. But the rest of us? Americans, all.
And guess what? We, as Americans, are at war with Iran. Like it or not, this is our war. As such, the argument that my thoughts about the war are not an Island issue, fails to pass muster. (Pun intended.)
(2) Want further evidence that my thoughts about our American war against Iran is an Island issue? You need only walk or drive through Vashon town on any of a growing number of days when the main intersection becomes not a theater of war, but a theater of street activism. Between Indivisible Vashon and Vashon for Palestine, “Islander opinions of our American war in Iran” have been thrust quite literally into the public square.
My opinion on this topic is relevant to our shared “Island life” specifically because of Islanders waving upside down American flags and anti-American/Israel flags while making loud, cacophonous, non-melodic noises designed to demand the attention of all Islanders. Their public expression, their free use of speech in the public square, and their organized activism makes my opinion on the same topic absolutely “Island-relevant.”
(3) Keep Vashon Weird. What does this mean? It means, keep Vashon truly diverse.
My “cancel culture series” is positioned within a frame not of my making. It is other Islanders who are actively organizing with a goal of converting Vashon Island into a one-way thinking monolith of political hegemony. This seemingly well-intended goal has resulted in the suppression of our Island’s true diversity in the name of political correctness and communal virtue signaling. Whether intentional or accidental, this concerns me. Deeply.
So, yes! My views on our American war in Iran are absolutely an Island issue, if only for the fact that so few Islanders who share my views feel safe doing so. And yes! It bothers me that Islanders with family currently serving in the military are reticent to acknowledge their loved one’s role in the current conflict.
If you’re still wondering, “Why is March offering this series?” I’ll tell you. It’s because I’m not the only Islander with The Clash running through my head, on repeat: “Should I stay, or should I go?”
In my opinion, our Island is not being unified by those claiming to do so. We are enduring a form of conversion therapy. We are witnessing a politicized social contagion. We are being pressured to join up, shut up, or leave. This is not unity. It is ideological warfare designed to claim territory.
Here’s the crux of the issue. If people are contemplating leaving our community as a direct result of cancel culture tactics, how can my willingness to speak up on topics bearing the brunt of such suppressive strategies not be Island-relevant?
My series is custom-made and designed for Vashon Islanders. I want those who believe everyone thinks like them to know, this is not the case. I want those who have “gone silent” to see my words in print and think, maybe I should speak up also? I want those who will suffer financial or career devastation, should they speak up, to at the very least know they are not alone.
For me to remain an Islander, I need the pendulum to begin to swing back toward the healthy diversity, the free exchange of differing viewpoints, and the delicious buffet of contrasting ideas and perspectives that used to be normative on Vashon. This is what inspired me to raise my children on Vashon Island, and I’m not ready to give up just yet.
For the sake of that goal, I will continue to write my Cancel Culture series, so long as The Vashon Loop chooses to publish it.
~ March Twisdale
