About two weeks ago, we put a sign up in our front yard to express support and solidarity with a number of social movements. It’s not particularly inflammatory or controversial. Honestly, if anything, it’s a little too busy. We got it as part of an exchange of sorts that my partner was doing with her friends. Here is what it looks like:

See what I mean? BUSY. You’d have to slow down to read all that. And again, it’s not really controversial. Let’s take a look at the “issues” supported.

1) Black Lives Matter - if you’re new to the blog, first WELCOME! Thanks for reading! Second, I’ve written about this quite a bit so check out my archives for my thoughts on BLM. This is maybe the most divisive issue on the sign. For whatever reason (white supremacy), white people have a hard time (white supremacy) with hearing the phrase “Black Lives Matter”. They feel (white supremacy) that it means that no other lives matter (white supremacy). It doesn’t. Moving on…

2) No Human Is Illegal - OK, so this might also be a bit of a third rail for whitey. In essence, all it is saying is that it’s gross and inhumane to refer to people (asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants, etc.) as crimes. No human is a crime. They aren’t “illegals” as if this were a new race whitey came up with. They are people with specific circumstances that require empathy and understanding.

3) Love is Love - I don’t care if you used to be a man and now you’re a woman and you love a man who used to be a woman. I don’t care about any of that. Frankly, I could do with LESS information these days. As long as it takes place between consenting adults, then I don’t give a flying fuck what you do or who you love. Love is love and it should be celebrated.

4) Women’s Rights are Human Rights - this one points out that we shouldn’t consider giving women equality some kind of gift or something special. It’s easy to think in terms of male/female but really the rights women want are the same as men. It incorporates all of humanity. It isn’t something special to women.

5) Science is Real - if you don’t agree with this, kindly jump off a cliff. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Gravity doesn’t work on whatever cliff is closest to you.

6) Water is Life - this one actually had to be explained to me because it seems too obvious that even an idiot could understand that without water there is no life. But alas, it speaks to a specific movement. Turns out some assholes want to put a pipeline through an entire Native population’s drinking water. One leak and their water would be contaminated. Crazy them, they would prefer that not happen. This is only one part of that movement. Is clean water for everyone really controversial? Sad day if it is.

7) Lastly, an MLK quote: injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Pretty straightforward, right? Based on how often I’ve seen this posted on IG, I doubt it’s causing all that much pain.

The other day I was sitting in my basement, writing. Upstairs, I thought I heard a loud bang. It sounded a lot like the noise a bird makes when it flies into a window. I didn’t think much of it. We have cats and they frequently make noises that are ghostly. Later, when I was outside checking the bird feeder that sits in front of my house (you can see its shadow in the photo above the E in BELIEVE) I found a rock that had no business being where it was.

It’s about the size of a hockey puck. Maybe a bit smaller. It’s a good throwing rock, for sure. Heavy, with little crevices to get a good grip. And you can see there’s a mark on it like it hit something with force. The area I found it lies directly behind the sign, the exact spot a rock would land if you were throwing it at the sign and missed, like a bitch. It was weird for it to be there. There aren’t any rock piles anywhere near there. And the ground is cement and grass. Could it be a coincidence? Sure.

But a few days later, after some friends left the house for book club, we found this in the driveway.

To my best guess, it looks like a Remington .22 round but I am far from an expert on such things. I don’t know if this is for target shooting or hunting or what. All I know is that I do not own any guns and therefore, do not own any bullets. For this to end up in my driveway, a typical suburban residential driveway, it would have had to be put there. It is hard to imagine under what circumstances a live round ends up on my property without there being some intent behind it. But again, it could be a coincidence.

I’ll say this: I’ve lived here for going on 4 years and not once found a rock under the bird feeder. I have also never found a bullet in my driveway. Within two weeks of putting up a sign with such controversial messages as “water is good” and “women should have rights” I have now encountered rocks and bullets. Coincidence? Maybe. It’s not like they came with notes.

I have seen people shake their heads at the sign (when they’re going slow enough to read it). I have seen white men in pickup trucks stop to read the sign and then peel out (in disgust?). I have friends in similar neighborhoods who are afraid to put up a sign like this. They worry about making themselves a target. I thought that was paranoia. Guess not. In suburban Wisconsin, outside of Milwaukee, the exact sign we have was put up by our friends. Within a few weeks, they came home to find it sliced in half by a knife (or boxcutter). It left a mark on the metal stand.

You’ll notice that none of these incidents have anyone taking credit them. They are cowardly acts, done by a frail, emotionally fragile white person. Could this be the work of some disgruntled group of minorities? Suuuuure. I know lots of black people who hate Black Lives Matter.

What does this tell us? If these incidents are not mere coincidence, which I choose to believe they are not, they say something. It says that white people feel their supremacy slipping away. It also says that they know their reaction to that loss of supremacy is something to be shamed by. This is why they slink around in the dark and make their statements only when alone and safe. They aren’t open about their racist feelings. They feel the world changing and it’s scary.

Good.

It’s about time for whitey to be afraid of something real. The movement is making progress. Police brutality isn’t just something minorities talk about. White people are beginning to see and understand the untenable situation we have going on in this country with policing. These scared white people who attack the movement in darkness can feel the change a-coming. Keep the pressure on. I ain’t scared of cowards.

But it is good to see they are scared of us. Don’t stop. No justice, no peace.

I Ain't Scared. I'm Glad They Are.