Woman asked to take down Black Lives Matter sign because it's driving down 'property values'

Neighbors asked a woman in Lake Oswego, Oregon to take down the sign outside her home supporting Black Lives Matter because it was supposedly affecting the property values in the neighborhood.  

Twitter user @pivyak, shared photos of the sign outside her home as well as the letter she received. She wrote, "My younger sister painted a sign on the front window of our house to show our support of the #BLM movement and was sent this in the mail from one of our neighbors. 100 percent on-brand for Lake Oswego." 

Above is the sign. It says, "Silence Supports Police Violence." The letter she and her family received reads, "Dear Neighbor, We, your neighbors, appreciate that you have a strong political and social justice viewpoint and wish to communicate that to others via your window sign.  

"The first amendment gives you that right. We believe you've made your point. As tensions rise in our city, home is the safe and quiet place we wanted to return to after being at work. We want to come home to a beautiful street where neighbors care and support one another." 

(The irony is that they're about to explain exactly how they do not support their neighbor and her sign.) The letter continues, "We have three homes on our street that we are trying to sell for the best price possible. Your sign is driving down interest to live on this street, hence our property values suffer (including yours). We feel you've made your statement and respectfully request you remove it and save your political viewpoint for inside your home. 

"Homes are not made to be build boards [sic] for our opinions, they are a place for families to rest, enjoy, and feel safe. Thank you in advance for caring enough about the people you live side by side (especially with different viewpoints) by removing your sign. Your Neighbors." 

"Thank you in advance" is the most passive-aggressive language in the world. It's rich that these neighbors touted caring about others in their neighborhood and making it "safe" when this letter immediately screams that they don't care about anyone who is actively for the Black Lives Matter movement and that they also do not care about making it a safe space for people who do not look like them.  

@pivyak's tweet went completely viral and garnered strong reactions from people who could not accept the casual racism here. "It's time to put a sign on another window. Maybe a sign on the grass too. Maybe even plant marigolds in the garden in the shape of BLM. The new people need to know they are moving into a good neighborhood where racism isn't tolerated," one person wrote. 

"I’m currently trying to buy a house and tbh I specifically look for stuff like this in a neighborhood because I know it’s where I’ll feel safe and welcome," another person wrote. If you are offended by or opposed to signs calling for equality, I humbly suggest you take a good long look at yourself before you write a nasty note to a neighbor and it goes viral on Twitter. 

Unfortunately, incidents like these aren't that rare, and several people in the comments shared similar things that happened to them.  

Another Twitter user shared a note they received from "3 Nabors" that said, "In this naborhood [sic] we do not need BLM sines [sic] and flags." 

Many in the comments shared advice about how they would respond to this letter. One person suggested writing back, "Dear neighbor selling your home. We will maintain our support for BLM. Just think of it as a win/win. You sell your home, we get better neighbors. Black Lives Matter."