{"id":46011,"date":"2025-05-07T14:34:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/?p=46011"},"modified":"2025-05-07T19:02:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T19:02:35","slug":"everyone-welcome-all-lives-matter-polarizing-slogans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/05\/07\/everyone-welcome-all-lives-matter-polarizing-slogans\/","title":{"rendered":"When Words Start Wars: Why Even “Everyone is Welcome” Sparks Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March of 2025, an Idaho school told a middle school teacher to <\/span>take down her \u201cEveryone is Welcome Here\u201d poster<\/span><\/a>, leading to outrage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2021, a Minnesota school district <\/span>banned \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d signs<\/span><\/a>, which also incited backlash.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are clearly different slogans, with different reasons and contexts. But they do have something in common. On the surface, they may be simple, positive, and seemingly unobjectionable sentiments. But, in both cases, these slogans have been politicized; they\u2019ve become associated with specific beliefs and political causes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Idaho case, the school\u2019s decision was based on the view that the \u201cEveryone is Welcome Here\u201d sign was <\/span>political and, therefore, controversial<\/span><\/a>. The teacher, on the other hand, saw it as a basic moral message, saying, \u201cThere are only two views of this poster: either you think everyone is welcome here or you don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But some would see it as a political statement. Some would see it as a statement expressing opposition to Republicans, who, the thinking goes, <\/span>don\u2019t believe everyone is welcome here<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and are <\/span>intolerant<\/span><\/a> of people not like them. Because of our political divides, the slogan, however unobjectionable it may be on the surface, is perceived by many as a politically partisan statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Our polarization means we\u2019ll often be filtering for offense. We\u2019ll interpret our opponents\u2019 slogans in pessimistic ways. And we’ll also be pessimistic in how we view their objections to our words.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We want to pause here and point out a couple things. For one thing: <\/span>we\u2019re not defending or criticizing the school\u2019s decision to ban the sign<\/em>.<\/em> We\u2019re only examining the reasons why some would see the sign as being political and controversial.<\/span><\/p>\n

We also want to emphasize that this was one incident in a country of 340 million people. As far as we know, there isn\u2019t another case of a school board banning this slogan. The emotional nature of our divides can lead us to filter for threats and insults from our \u201cenemies.\u201d This can put us at risk of <\/span>overreacting<\/span><\/a> to what are relatively rare and unrepresentative events in a very large country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d slogan. On the surface, this is also a simple, seemingly unobjectionable slogan. It\u2019s possible to even imagine it being a progressive rallying cry in a different context and time. But it came to prominence in 2020 as a way to express opposition to the \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d slogan and movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some liberals considered the use of \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d to be <\/span>racist<\/span><\/a>. Some saw it as problematic<\/a> and offensive in failing to give proper respect to the intent of the \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d cause. But, similar to the \u201cEveryone Is Welcome Here\u201d slogan, we should be willing to see that some used this slogan as a shorthand way of expressing their stances and frustrations. Some may have used it as a way to communicate disagreement with the stance that killings by police in America are <\/span>significantly associated with race or racism<\/span><\/a>. Others may have used it as a way to communicate frustration with what they saw as divisive behaviors on the part of BLM activists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, we want to emphasize that our goal is not to defend or criticize this slogan (or any slogan). And our goal is not to say the two slogans we’ve examined here are equivalent. And our goal is not to say there are no valid reasons to criticize this slogan (or any slogan). We\u2019re only seeking to understand what motivates people\u2019s use of these slogans, and their objections to them. Seeing how slogans can be shorthand ways to say \u201cI\u2019m on this side of this debate\u201d can help us engage in more constructive ways with each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a polarized country like ours, all sorts of language has become associated with our divides. We’re surrounded by many words and phrases that act as <\/span>landmines and tripwires<\/span><\/a>. In <\/span>Isaac Saul\u2019s TED Talk on language and polarization<\/span><\/a>, he discusses the phrases \u201cillegal alien\u201d and \u201cundocumented immigrant\u201d and their political associations. For some people, hearing someone use one of those phrases will be enough for them to assume that person is on \u201cthe other side.\u201d Our language becomes increasingly polarized and polarizing, driving us further apart. We find it harder and harder to <\/span>understand each other<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Isaac Saul said in <\/span>his TED Talk<\/span><\/a>, if we want to try to speak to people outside of our political tribes, that requires \u201cthat we all listen more neutrally.\u201d He said: <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A lot of the time, a person you\u2019re speaking with will use a phrase intended to signal their membership to a political tribe, but that doesn\u2019t always mean the other person intended to pick a fight. You can make the decision not to take offense by someone\u2019s tribal language choices, and rather hear their intended meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The slogans we embrace or judge often reflect the stories we tell ourselves about the world. We may not agree on which stories are most true \u2014 but if we want a more empathetic, less toxic politics, we can start by trying to hear what others <\/span>mean<\/span><\/i>, not just what our initial reactions and assumptions <\/span>tell<\/span><\/i> us they mean.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So we\u2019ll leave you with this question: <\/span>What other words or phrases have you seen turn into political landmines \u2014 language that might seem positive or harmless in different contexts, but that now sparks conflict?<\/b> Send us a message<\/span><\/a> and let us know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Join the Builders Movement!\u00a0buildersmovement.org\/invite<\/a><\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In March of 2025, an Idaho school told a middle school teacher to take down her \u201cEveryone is Welcome Here\u201d poster, leading to outrage.\u00a0 In 2021, a Minnesota school district banned \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d signs, which also incited backlash.\u00a0 These are clearly different slogans, with different reasons and contexts. But they do have something in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":46012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"collection_feed":[],"type_feed":[77],"class_list":["post-46011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Words Start Wars: Why Even "Everyone is Welcome" Sparks Controversy - Builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/buildersmovement.org\/2025\/05\/07\/everyone-welcome-all-lives-matter-polarizing-slogans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Words Start Wars: Why Even "Everyone is Welcome" Sparks Controversy - Builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In March of 2025, an Idaho school told a middle school teacher to take down her \u201cEveryone is Welcome Here\u201d poster, leading to outrage.\u00a0 In 2021, a Minnesota school district banned \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d signs, which also incited backlash.\u00a0 These are clearly different slogans, with different reasons and contexts. 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