There is a father, leading the way with a clear sense of urgency, bent at the waist. A mother, running behind him, despite the prim dress that hugs her knees. A little girl, holding her mother's hand, unable to keep pace, her feet barely touching the ground, her pigtails -- everyone knows the pigtails -- flowing behind.
In 1990, the image would be projected onto black vinyl, traced with a knife blade, glued onto yellow signs, topped with one word -- CAUTION -- and placed on the shoulders of freeways, mostly along Interstate 5 north of the Mexican border.
The sign served as a warning that drivers could encounter people racing across the interstate -- most of them trying to get from Mexico into the United States. It would become one of the most iconic and enduring images associated with the nation's war over illegal immigration. And it would leave John Hood, now 59 years old and preparing to retire, conflicted and ambivalent about his strange legacy.
Interesting article, but largely just a gloss on the man who made the sign and the many groups who have adopted the sign to different ends. You can imagine who uses the sign for what.
I recall not understanding the sign, and subsequently laughing at it, when I was younger and saw it for the first time during a family trip to Sea World.
Ponder though, that anyone would risk running across the interstate to find freedom. It may be illegal. It's pretty stupid. But it's moving as well.
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