A white woman in Olympia, Washington is facing a fine for a Black Lives Matter sign hanging up inside her house, according to KIRO 7 News. The sign used to be posted in front of the woman’s home. But now it seems someone’s been peeping through her window after she moved it into her living room.
It’s common now after the mass production of BLM paraphernalia that racists are triggered seeing those three simple words on a plain black background. Shirley Pavao told KIRO 7 she hung the sign in her front window in 2020, amidst the surge in BLM support. Then, her homeowner’s association took action on the complaints about her sign and limited what residents could display, including political signs. How is saying Black lives matter a political statement? I still don’t know.
“There was an uproar in the community. Specific people started complaining, wanted it down,” said Pavao.
She said she took the sign from her window but the complaints continued as people broke their necks to notice the sign hanging inside her house.
“How did the board go from you can’t have outside signs or signs outside your building to determining that they have a legal right to determine what I have in my home?” she said to KIRO 7.
I’ve got the same question, Shirley. Now she has until this weekend to remove the sign or she has to pay a fine. So far, she hasn’t broken any state law regarding signs.
More about the situation from KIRO 7 News:
The sign has been a point of tension in the rural neighborhood for more than two years. That’s despite neighbors appearing to be in violation themselves. At one home, a Trump doormat could be seen on the ground. At another, a thin blue line flag was noticeable.
Pavao plans to appeal the violation and says she is disappointed it has come to this.
“I cannot express how tired I am, intellectually, emotionally. How disappointed I am with some of the people in this park. How much it hurts me that my family does not feel comfortable here, because they are people of color too,” Pavao said.