We Are One - so says the sign, but one what?

About 7 weeks on display: since pandemic week 4 in Michigan [17 June 2020]

Both sides of the sandwich board give the same bold assertion. Such a short, direct statement is powerful and unambiguous. And yet there may well be several interpretations carried by the message at the same time, depending on the state of mind when a person notices the streetside note. The location is about 2 miles north of Grand Rapids city center in west Michigan on a major traffic route for local travel. So even when most people obeyed the Governor's directive to "stay home, stay safe" there were still cars traveling up and down this route. And people on foot or bike who complied with the guidance on social distancing also pass this way from time to time.

The ALL CAPS is a typographic emphasis similar to shouting or speaking in a loud enough voice for people far away to be able to hear the message. The choice of this shade of blue may signify something, too: neither is this color a somber dark navy or official looking tone, nor is it cheerfully light-hearted sky blue. Instead the color is somewhat light (not taking itself too seriously or self-righteously) while still displaying a slightly muted aspect (in respect for those harmed by the Covid-19 disease directly, or by harm to their livelihoods and social/psychological vitality).

As for the text itself, "one" implies shared destiny and shared present conditions and shared past experiences. It does not insist that everyone is alike or should be uniform in their lives; only that unity in relation to the threat posed by the pandemic is a unifier. "We" is inclusive, like "one," as well. Unlike "me and you and they over there," the subject "we" encompasses one and all together, no matter the deep or the surface differences. "Are" is a state of being; the present moment; the state of existing in time and place. Taken all together the intent seems to be encouraging one another with a message of the present and a promise of the future. By extension the message suggests, therefore, that each person should express responsiveness and bear responsibility for one's fellows in need of small or big help now (and extending indefinitely into the future). "Be your brother's keeper," is the message, to reference a Bible passage.

People with friendly, optimistic, or trusting disposition may accept the message at face value: yes, OK, we all will manage to sustain our economy and social and spiritual life during and after the pandemic. On the other hand, people who have not been sustained or rewarded or respected by The System of social services, attitudes, abuses, and injustices may take a different interpretation of "WE are ONE" (but excluding selected categories of people who do not fit our preferences, ideals, or mental image of belonging together). In other words, whereas many readers see the message as hopeful and encouraging; a proclamation or permission to go out of one's habits and way of doing things in order to care for others, in the eyes of other readers the message repeats a set of exclusions so that only certain people who meet particular conditions can be included in the declaration. Such is the flexibility of meaning, rationalization, and us/them distinctions reproduced one relationship at a time. Even if the sign-painter authored a statement intended to be inclusive, some readers may take exception and define "we" in their own image alone. Other readers, accustomed to being excluded or cut-off from some relationships, social capital, and other opportunities in the community may well see the message as yet another assertion of moral superiority or otherwise exclusionary movement. In the end, each instance of noticing another person's distress and responding (or ignoring) will make the full meaning of the signboard apparent.