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I had a Black Lives Matter flag hanging on my house that was stolen in the middle of the night. #BlackLivesMatter 
I was mad. My wife was FURIOUS. Like, salt the earth furious. It was on the fringes of my doorbell cam, so I didn't catch the mouth breather who took it.
Let me tell you a little about why I have this flag, and what it means to me:
- My neighborhood is predominantly white. And by predominantly, I mean basically everyone.
- it's predominantly Mormon. And by predominantly, I mean basically everyone.
- My neighborhood is predominantly white. And by predominantly, I mean basically everyone.
- it's predominantly Mormon. And by predominantly, I mean basically everyone.
- you have to walk past my house to get to the grade school.
- Some of our very best friends live up my street, and they have two young black sons that attend that predominantly white/ mormon school.
- Some of our very best friends live up my street, and they have two young black sons that attend that predominantly white/ mormon school.
- These amazing kids have experienced real racism in & at school... and not just tacit white privilege racism (that many worryingly attempt to justify (but ALSO that)... but often outright hate speech (usually) tossed casually at them around town & at school. By peers AND adults.
- My wife and I talk to their parents regularly, and they tell us what these kids go through daily... It's already bad, and they worry if their boys experience THIS while they're small, cute black children, what will they experience when they're strong black men?
That thesis is heart wrenching and unacceptable to us. So, we hang our flag.
We've come to learn that we hang it for MANY reasons, but two particular reasons come to mind in this case. One is broad, the other is specific:
We've come to learn that we hang it for MANY reasons, but two particular reasons come to mind in this case. One is broad, the other is specific:
1) so everyone who comes to my house (my family, and all my neighbors) know exactly where we stand. We believe Black Lives Matter. No caveat. Black Lives Matter to me and my house.
2) so those two black boys (my young friends) who pass my house EVERY day on their way to school know that THEIR lives matter. They are protected in their neighborhood. And if they DON'T feel safe on that walk, they can come to my house and I will do all I can to keep them safe.
You see why my wife (and I) was livid. Some dirtbag not only went and made a human rights issue a political one, but by stealing our flag they robbed our neighborhood (and those boys) of a banner of safety.
Look, I'm a white guy. I don't pretend to know what black America has gone through, and honestly, I'm not gonna litigate it (so don't @ me). But I can and will advocate the best I can for human rights and human decency issues: and this is one.
It shouldn't take knowing a black person to believe Black Lives Matter. And it shouldn't take Elder Oaks telling you Black Lives Matter to get there. But if it takes either of those things, well, at least you're there. Now stay and vote for people who are there with you.
Oh, and I got a new flag. #BlackLivesMatter
