Seven Reasons to Wear a White Poppy
Updated on 27th November 2019
The Conservative Member of the UK Parliament, Johnny Mercer, tweeted the following criticism of the White Poppy and its wearers:
White poppies are attention seeking rubbish. Ignore the wearers of them. If you don’t want to wear a poppy don’t bother; they fought and died so you could choose. But don’t deliberately try and hijack it’s symbolism for your own ends. Well done @BrianWoodMC https://t.co/HRK3wW3qY5
— Johnny Mercer MP (@JohnnyMercerUK) October 22, 2018
Here Twitter user Isaac Puzey responds and explains, in seven reasons, why he chooses to wear a White Poppy.
1. We’re not “hijacking” anything – the white poppy has been around since the 1930s. If anything the red poppy has been co-opted by the establishment and hijacked by the right wing to intentionally blur the line between war and patriotism.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
2. People gave their lives fighting fascism, and as a result, we now have the choice to remember family members we lost in whichever way we’d prefer.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
3. I’d like to remember the victims of imperialism without the association of an imperialist monarch – who leads a procession which the red poppy is unfortunately affiliated with.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
4. The red poppy is often promoted alongside Militarism (cadets at poppy stalls) which In my view is antithetical to what remembrance should be about.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
5. I’d rather wear a poppy that is internationalist in sentiment which can be worn by people from whatever country they’re from and remember all victims of war.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
6. I wear the white poppy to symbolise the fact that I am conscious of Remembrance Day and that I’m actively making an effort to mark it as a significant day. I don’t wear it to be confrontational.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
7. If wearing it strikes up a conversation about the pros and cons of the white/red poppy then all the better. No one should feel bad about wearing the red poppy, but they should know why they’re wearing it. We should remain open minded about things we take for granted.
— Isaac Puzey (@IWEPuzey) November 1, 2018
Click here for the Wear a White Poppy campaign
