The coexist sticker is pretty much a staple in any American city, at least one person has the blue and white sticker plastered on their bumper. However, it can send several different messages, that are good, and bad.
The first time I saw a "coexist" sticker on someones bumper, I was absolutely blown away. As an artist, I was struck by the how creatively the sticker included all these different ideas into one meaningful word. I kept talking to my dad, the driver, instructing him to "look at the cool sticker! Dad! Look at it!" But the meaning I took from it was very different than others.
People claim that the sticker puts all these problems in a "nicety" that it doesn't do anything different. It just gives people a false sense of security, that they support this cause, but that they don't always do anything about it. It's like owning a soccer ball, but not playing soccer, than calling yourself a soccer player. Others took it a different way, saying it's demanding, that it demands that, "we all have to get along now." And others have made the valid point that instead of uniting people, it creates a whole new separate group of people - the type of people who put "coexist" stickers on their bumpers, said a writer for The Daily Beast. They say that instead of promoting unity, it promotes a whole new social group.
And while these people sometimes have valid concerns about the "coexist" work, it sends a different message too.
Yes. The sticker wants people to get along, and yes, sometimes it looks like it overlooks all the obstacles in the way of peace, and promotes peace without looking at what peace is. But the sticker isn't just encouraging people to "get along." It sends a different message. By putting all the symbols on the word 'coexist' it sends a message that instead of just writing 'coexist' it says that we acknowledge these differences. It says that instead of just looking at peace, we must look at every piece of what is going to make peace.
"coexist" acknowledges that we need all these different people, from different races, and different genders to be one. It sends the message that coexisting comes from everyone being involved. It acknowledges that we need everyone to reach peace, that we need to understand each other because everyone matters. Everyone should be able to coexist.
The sticker can be viewed that it promotes a whole new social group, that it demands that we must all get along. But a huge part of getting along with one another is understanding each other. It's about learning who we are and that we all have value in this world, no matter who you are. It's about learning about the religious struggles that plague society, understanding where they come from and working towards a better goal in cooperation with each other. And it's entirely possible that the some people fit the generalization that the "coexist" sticker promotes a whole new social group. But also, not everyone who supports the coexist sticker fits into that new social group, it's a stereotype that simply stems from wanting peace in our world.
On the surface level, the meaning can be literal, and some people can take it negatively, I understand that. But it doesn't always mean that it overlooks the basis of religious issues. It doesn't always mean that because you have one of those stickers, you're territorial about your beliefs, that your way is the right way. It means that you just want peace. That you acknowledge that people are different, and you value them for it. It's about unity, and peace, and just coexisting.