Yard Signs Show Solidarity for Community
As the American political climate remains divided, one thing is sure: communities will show their unity with yard signs
By Emily Baude
Throughout Minneapolis, yard signs are prolific. Stuck into the ground or displayed in windows of homes, these signs boast the homeowners support for political candidates or social movements.
Before the election, Biden signs were commonplace in the Twin Cities. They can often be seen accompanied by signs showing support for various groups in Minnesota, such as the LGBTQ+ community or Black Lives Matter.
Katherine Sullivan is one of many people in the Dinkytown area with a Black Lives Matter sign in her window. “I guess I saw other people making them and putting them up in their windows or yards, and I thought, ‘Hey, I can do that too,’” she said.
Sullivan has a sign encouraging people to vote in her yard. She also has a Biden sign in front of her house.
“I don’t like him… But I’m obviously voting for Biden,” Savannah Haneline said. She has yard signs in front of her house on Como Avenue, including a Biden sign and a sign encouraging people to vote against the Keystone Pipeline.
Haneline said she thinks that the more people see Biden signs, the more likely they are to vote—“and not for the orange guy.”
Campaign signs haven’t proven to be completely effective according to Dr. Donald Green, the author of a 2016 study focusing on political yard sign efficacy. “. . . It appears that signs typically have a modest effect on advertising candidates’ vote shares—an effect that is probably greater than zero but unlikely to be large enough to alter the outcome of a contest that would otherwise be decided by more than a few percentage points,” Green said.
While yard signs might not be the most effective way for a candidate to gain traction, they can show solidarity in a community. Those who identify with the signage can find comfort when walking through their neighborhood.
“I think they serve an expressive role. In New York State, the race for president is a foregone conclusion, but people with strong preferences still wish to express their support for either Trump or Biden,” Green said.
Sullivan said she has received comments from her neighbors on the signs she has. “I live on a pretty heavily-trafficked street, so people see my signs a lot. I guess that’s another reason I put them up.” Her downstairs neighbors even commented on her Black Lives Matter sign when they moved in. “I met them and the first thing they said was like, ‘We like that you have that sign up.’ I think that speaks to the connection the community can feel from something as simple as having a sign in your window.”
Haneline also lives on a busy street, which she said made her more inclined to express her opinions through yard signs. “It’s almost like I have a responsibility to have signs up. People drive and walk by my house everyday, and they have to look at these signs, and it makes them think.”
Green also noted that the fact that BLM and Biden signs are often seen together is telling of how issues and candidates go together. When members of a community are like-minded, they can feel supported by each other from their yard signs.
This is most likely the case in Minneapolis, where Trump signs are almost nonexistent. “I think people in this community know we support each other,” Haneline said. “A Trump sign in Como would stick out like a sore thumb.”