Gentrifiers and Black Lives Matter yard signs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand about these signs is when do you remove them? They are not like an election or referendum sign.

Many of my neighbors have them, I live in an upper middle class area with top schools and few minorities. I like where I live, it's clean, it's safe, it feels comfortable to me.

My neighbors who have these signs clearly like where they live and like the people who they live amongst too. They have the means to move to a more diverse area and yet here they are with their yard signs. The whole thing seems disingenuous to me.

I'm having trouble following your logic to its concluding sentence. Would "White people concerned about black lives should go live in a black neighborhood" fit?

Yeah, it's like saying I shouldn't have an opinion about the conflict in Syria since I don't live there.

[Anonymous]

If you live in a majority white neighborhood, maybe those signs make minorities feel safe. I am scared of white people these days, and that yard sign would make me feel much more comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand about these signs is when do you remove them? They are not like an election or referendum sign.

Many of my neighbors have them, I live in an upper middle class area with top schools and few minorities. I like where I live, it's clean, it's safe, it feels comfortable to me.

My neighbors who have these signs clearly like where they live and like the people who they live amongst too. They have the means to move to a more diverse area and yet here they are with their yard signs. The whole thing seems disingenuous to me.

I'm having trouble following your logic to its concluding sentence. Would "White people concerned about black lives should go live in a black neighborhood" fit?

Yeah, it's like saying I shouldn't have an opinion about the conflict in Syria since I don't live there.

It's easier to put your money where your mouth is in regards to the neighborhood in which you live. Not so easy for the country in which you live.

[Anonymous]

Truth serum white people sign: In This House, We Believe That Our Children are Enitled To: Great Schools Rated 10, Admission to UVA as Legacies, and Guaranteed Jobs Paying at Least 250K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand about these signs is when do you remove them? They are not like an election or referendum sign.

Many of my neighbors have them, I live in an upper middle class area with top schools and few minorities. I like where I live, it's clean, it's safe, it feels comfortable to me.

My neighbors who have these signs clearly like where they live and like the people who they live amongst too. They have the means to move to a more diverse area and yet here they are with their yard signs. The whole thing seems disingenuous to me.

I'm having trouble following your logic to its concluding sentence. Would "White people concerned about black lives should go live in a black neighborhood" fit?

Yeah, it's like saying I shouldn't have an opinion about the conflict in Syria since I don't live there.

+2. It's perfectly acceptable to live in a majority white neighborhood AND still care about what happens to AAs, Latinos, or any other demographic. Would you suggest that they should be insular and only care about issues that affect people in their own neighborhood?

-a black person

[Anonymous]

OP's heart is in the right place, kind of.

Why not help someone who is battling a horrible illness or be a mentor to a child without parents.

The sign just reeks of white guilt. There are a lot more worse things than being black in the US.

BLM persecuted (Ferguson) a cop that was simply trying to survive. They prejudge cops all the time, which is very ironic.

Scary how people are brainwashed by a few videos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how people think that no one should get political in a neighborhood. Really? There is nothing that would move you to put a sign up in your yard? For example, chemical waste buried in the neighborhood? (Love Canal) Your family is threatened with cancer from chemical waste, but, no, it would be improper to put a sign up in your yard?

Like it's morally and socially correct not to express your opinion in your neighborhood. Very strange. And somehow I don't think our forefathers and mothers who fought the British worried a lot about shutting up in their neighborhoods because it might offend their neighbors. But, different strokes for different folks, I guess. It just doesn't seem to connect with the values this country was based on, that's all.

In most neighborhoods you get mixed nuts. I want to have peace at home, and be able to have a good relationship with my neighbors regardless. Yes politics should be left out of it. I can agree to disagree and still be someone's friend. I don't think I need to wear my politics on my sleeve around the neighborhood. I'd rather be the one that will watch if my neighbor is on vacation, or needs me to feed their cat and vice versa. I don't want discourse because I voted for A and they voted for B.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. I don't bother my neighbors about politics but I have a right to have a sign in my window. It is possible to have a sign and not harass your neighbor about politics but rather chat with them about the weather and how you'll watch their house next time they go out of town. Which I do - regardless of their politics or mine. It's not that hard to do.

+1
The idea that we cannot be neighborly with people who have different political views is sad. Barring hate speech (which none of these signs represent), should your sense of peace really be disrupted by a neighbor displaying support for a cause that you might disagree with?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Truth serum white people sign: In This House, We Believe That Our Children are Enitled To: Great Schools Rated 10, Admission to UVA as Legacies, and Guaranteed Jobs Paying at Least 250K.

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live in a majority white neighborhood, maybe those signs make minorities feel safe. I am scared of white people these days, and that yard sign would make me feel much more comfortable.

Statistically aren't majority white neighborhoods safer with or without BLM signs?

[Anonymous]

What's the stupidest thing in the world? A yard sign!

[Anonymous]

How pathetic and sad that we as humans have come down to a stupid yard sign as a way of communicating with our neighbors.

[Anonymous]

My sister is all about Black Lives Matter. However, when my daughter was in the hospital on suicide watch (I found out later that she did it because my sister had stopped speaking to us and my daughter thought if she tried to harm herself, she would come to see her), my sister did not bother to come to see her niece, when just last fall she claimed that she loved her as much as her own children. My daughter cried herself to sleep, and told me later during therapy that she knew then that everyone matters to her aunt, except for family. So, in my opinion, actions speak louder than words. Before you start announcing with your yard signs that this life or that life matters, make sure that you haven't ignored the lives of those a lot closer to you.

[Anonymous]

I used to be in the activist world and people had huge egos. And they were getting paid to be activists! Meanwhile, people who had normal jobs around me had much more diversity of friendships and experience with real life problems. I realized it was All About Me and my ego to feel like the "good girl" and got to work on the harder part - being a person in the world. I don't put up a sign because on my own I am working on addressing my inner racism and learning how to be more friendly and aware to people who, based on my background growing up, would not have naturally befriended. I send my kids to a school with black kids and I want them to learn that black lives matter because they actually know and are friends with black people.

Also, when I had my first baby I got severely depressed and who came to visit me or check on me to see how I was doing? No one. Could have been a liberal thing, or more likely an age thing (I was the first in my age group to have a kid and they likely didn't know how tough it is for new moms). But I do agree that the first and best way to be an activist is to be a good person.

[Anonymous]

You are doing nothing more than jumping on the bandwagon to feel good about yourself, not unlike many of the people at the women's march in DC.

I highly doubt you know what it's like to live in a high crime area, or what it's like to make a life and death decision in a split-second. There are a million cops. They are human and they make mistakes just like you do.

If you think critically, you can find a much better cause. Take the PP's advice or find something to do that actually helps someone in need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister is all about Black Lives Matter. However, when my daughter was in the hospital on suicide watch (I found out later that she did it because my sister had stopped speaking to us and my daughter thought if she tried to harm herself, she would come to see her), my sister did not bother to come to see her niece, when just last fall she claimed that she loved her as much as her own children. My daughter cried herself to sleep, and told me later during therapy that she knew then that everyone matters to her aunt, except for family. So, in my opinion, actions speak louder than words. Before you start announcing with your yard signs that this life or that life matters, make sure that you haven't ignored the lives of those a lot closer to you.

This exactly. What matters is how you ACT, not what you say. One of my favorites quotes is "your actions are screaming so loudly that I can't hear what you're saying."