Signs get chilly reception
Arabic, Spanish wording proves too political
It sounds like a folksy message Mister Rogers might spread. “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor.” Retired educator Dean Zimmerman bought 170 signs bearing these words in English and, oh-oh, Spanish and Arabic. Are you getting the sense not everyone would happily display one?
Zimmerman found that out in a hurry when he tried sharing them with schools, libraries, churches and businesses in Sheboygan County where he lives and where the political winds don’t blow to the left as much as he’d like.
“I think many of them ended up in Dumpsters. Teachers told me things like, ‘Are you nuts? I wouldn’t put that sign up today,’ ” Zimmerman told me when I called in response to an email about the experience that he sent to the Journal Sentinel.
The green, blue and orange signs have gained popularity since candidate-turned-President Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States and proposed a huge wall along the Mexican border. So, yes, the signs are political as well as inviting.
Zimmerman, 69, of Elkhart Lake, was a teacher and administrator in Wisconsin for 35 years. He purchased the signs for $10 each from a food co-op in Madison in March. He had seen the message displayed during visits to Madison but not in Sheboygan County. He set out to remedy that, stopping at establishments he thought certainly would welcome the signs.
School districts and libraries took one look at the sign and saw trouble. Zimmerman then tried churches, thinking the message of loving your neighbor was right up their alley. That didn’t go well either. Businesses also balked. Zimmerman even stopped and talked to people he saw working in their yards. Some of those encounters went better.
A couple business owners in Plymouth approached by Zimmerman agreed to talk to me if I did not identify them.
“The sign was more political because it only has Spanish, English and Arabic on it. It didn’t have other languages. So that is politically speaking to what’s happening in the country right now. And while I agree with him on that, I do know that we live in a conservative area and I can’t afford to alienate any potential customers,” one said.
“I did have it in the window for a couple of days, and a few other people did and then they started taking them down. So I lost my nerve,” this person said, adding that Zimmerman came in half a dozen times to talk about putting up the sign.
Another shop owner gets many requests to post fundraiser notices and other signs in the door and windows. “We fly the flag down the middle as not to offend. There’s enough arguing everywhere else in the world,” was this person’s comment.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Plymouth displayed the sign about two weeks and then took it down.
“We had other places asking us about it,” said church senior warden Jesse Cortinaz, “and why we were putting it out there without knowing what the words were saying underneath.”
Ah, yes, the Arabic words. The ones that mean something along the lines of, “No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor.”
Cortinaz said Zimmerman tried to collect $10 each for two signs, so the church gave them back to him.
For all of Zimmerman’s efforts, no more than a few signs are on display in Sheboygan County. He was heartened that some people he approached at least gave the decision a lot of thought before opting out.
“I’ve met many, many, many amazingly wonderful caring people, including and especially those who said no,” he said. “And I’ve met some people who said some things that were a tad racist.”
Do we have to be glad they’re our neighbors, too?