Couple months ago we put up those familiar black and white signs, on our house gate and on the gate to my corrals. We live in a little west Texas cow/ border/ tourist village of 400 people.
That very night they we stolen, and crude spray painted plywood signs saying “Police Lives Matter” got put up all around our block. I foolishly confronted and threatened the guy who did it, and our deputy came over and told me to cool down or he’d put everyone involved in jail.
I did calm down, and apologised to the deputy and the man whom I had threatened. He said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a white supremicist, OK?”
We replaced our signs immediately- (thank Mokabe’s in St. Louis). We put them up because my dear parnter here is from U City in St. Louis, ten minutes from Ferguson. We want to show solidarity with our people up there, and with the movement all over our country.
We live on “the Mexican” side of the tracks, and the deputy, who is Hispanic, told me, “I feel intimidated now just driving by on your street”. He said that “cops are gettting killed every day” by people in the Black Lives Matter movement…
Time goes on in a small town...last night on the Brewster County Sheriff’s facebook page, our high sheriff Ronnie Dotson announced that all his patrol cars will from now on display a cross sticker. He said he wants God to protect his department. This being Texas, it got hundred of “likes” instantly.
My partner replied with a short reminder about the clause in our Constitution separating church and state. So now the sheriff over at the county seat can look over to our village and…
Neighbor came over this morning and told me, “I had a conversation last night with one of our ‘finest’, Deputy Taylor. He said he don’t like your Black Lives Matter signs”.
So now w have really done it. This is a small town in a big Texas county. Some a the people who I see ever day have about stopped talking to me, and I reckon we will see how this sheriff thing plays out.
My partner is a pretty tough woman and she’s not one to take any shit, or unfair treatment from anyone.
We’ll see what shakes down.
