Unknown; Occupy Wall Street Archives Working Group
Object Type
Signs
Description
Ten years after the attacks on September 11, 2011, there were still almost one hundred thousand United States troops in Afghanistan, along with thousands more in Iraq. Numerous anti-war veterans participated in Occupy Wall Street, including members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (since renamed About Face). In Oakland, an anti-war veteran, Scott Olsen, suffered a fractured skull, a broken neck, and brain swelling after he was struck by a police projectile during an attack on protesters. The sign's red, white, and blue aesthetic, coupled with the message it gives on one side, "The Silent Majority Are Silent No More,” reveals a conservative undercurrent to the sign. The silent majority, a term first popularized by Richard Nixon, refers to a large body of people in a country, or in any group, who do not publicly express their opinions. It is language that has largely been adopted on the right, and has been echoed by Ronald Reagan, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, and Donald Trump. In this way, this sign is perhaps another example of how the left and right collided at Occupy, presumably under the shared populist rhetoric of “the 99%.”
Image Description
This sign has red and blue stincled letters that read, "Bring Our Troops Home So They Can Join Us." The opposite side of the sign says, "The Silent Majority Is Silent No More" and incorporates the use of some green letters in addition to blue and red.
Citation
"Bring Our Troops Home" sign, circa 2011-2012; TAM.630 Occupy Wall Street Archives Working Group Records; box 21; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University