Brighten Your Day

This Yard Sign Proves That At Least Someone Gets It

April 3, 2018

This is the sign that sits in the front yard of author and public speaker Charles Eisenstein's house in Asheville, North Carolina.

The yard sign has been up for over two years now and Eisenstein says he's received a lot of positive feedback.

"A glimpse of hope," Eisenstein wrote on Facebook almost one year ago about the sign.

"In the half-year or so it's been up, we've gotten a lot of positive comments on our yard sign from the many pedestrians who pass by our house, including black folks from the projects down the street. 'We love your sign!' they say.

So yesterday, as Stella pulls into the driveway she sees two honest-to-god skinheads with scary tattoos standing in front of the sign, having some kind of discussion. She feels a bit nervous -- what are they going to say, or do? When she gets out of the car, they flash her the thumbs-up and say, 'We love your sign!'

Maybe our basic love-nature just needs a little invitation to come out. The media, left and right, is so full of invitations to hate... somebody. 'Here is whom you should hate!' say the invisible subheadlines. Now I'm not ignorant of the deep historical and economic causes of racism, but perhaps a new day is closer than we think, if we can counter those hate-invitations with invitations to solidarity.

Not that a yard sign can do much to change a culture of hate -- but who knows? Who knows if it might not induce just a little softening in those who read it? When a new culture is ready to be born, our little affirmations of it can go a long way. The current power structure can only persist because we've been tricked into hating each other. Divide and conquer. Can we be done with that?"