Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, emailed Clifton, Virginia mayor William Holloway to demand that a Black Lives Matter banner be taken down.
The banner says “Welcome to Clifton where Black Lives Matter.”
“Would you please remove the BLM sign from Clifton?” Thomas wrote to Holloway. “As leaders of this community, you should be smarter than promoting such a group as this, who uses race to foment chaos to destabilize the nation.”
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The banner is displayed on the town’s Main Street, welcoming visitors to the predominately white northern Virginia town.
Mayor Holloway said that he wanted to display the banner to show solidarity with many U.S. citizens. Holloway also asked for the community’s feedback, and many agreed with his decision to post the sign.
Another reason Holloway decided to have publicly display the banner on because of recent unrest in Clifton.
One of Holloway’s legal offices “had all of its windows smashed out of it,” said the mayor, according to the Washington Post.
“We couldn’t go to work there. It was a volatile time,” Holloway said. He believed the Town Council needed to make a statement right away.
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Holloway did acknowledges that the town has its share of diverse views on Black Lives Matter, one of those views belonging to Thomas who does not think Black Lives Matter should be embraced.
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