Blonde-haired, blue-eyed white people from Ukraine were celebrated for making home-made Molotov cocktails to defend their land, but the brown Arab Muslim, the Iranian, the Afghan, is far too “uncivilised” to have the right to resist. Their resistance is “barbaric” because it comes from an inherently “violent” culture.
The selective application of international law and one’s right to defend themselves from illegal occupation and colonial violence has been revealed to be a complete contradiction in the west, and is no doubt infuriating.
But we need to also understand how these “resistance” narratives are processed in communities.
These narratives do not stay on our screens. They shape how entire communities see themselves.
When Indigenous, Black, and other racialised peoples repeatedly see their histories, struggles, cultures, and resistance framed as dangerous, irrational, or inherently violent, many begin to internalise those messages.
Some distance themselves from their own identities in search of safety, acceptance, or legitimacy.
Others carry a deep, unspoken rage born from exclusion, dispossession, and the constant demand to prove their humanity.
When people are disconnected from their roots, denied dignity, and taught to be ashamed of where they come from, they will still search for belonging. It’s a basic human need to feel a sense of community.
The question is whether we create spaces that nurture healing, identity, and justice, or leave them vulnerable to finding belonging in places that exploit their pain.