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A BLM Sign Sparks Controversy — but Not Conversation
Even in 2020, a Black Lives Matter sign can create a stir in small conservative towns
In large cities across America, people tend not to bat an eye at “Black Lives Matter” signs, which adorn homes and businesses alike. But in rural, largely White areas, like White Sulphur Springs, New York (that name! You can’t make this stuff up), this messaging can still stir up controversy.
Phillip Pantuso writes in The Guardian of this “town of 377 people, where 351 of those people are white.” Pantuso reports that Trump 2020 signs have proliferated in response to one family putting a Black Lives Matter sign and a “Biden For President” sign in their front lawn. People drive by and yell out the window, and tensions have risen.
You might expect this to inspire some real conversations about politics and racism. But Pantuso writes: “What there isn’t much of is dialogue, in a place you might expect there to be some.”
