Neighbour tells family to take down BLM sign as it doesn’t ‘reflect well on the area’

A tweet has gone viral after a neighbour posted a passive-aggressive letter through the door of a family home that had a Black Lives Matter sign in the window, claiming it “didn’t reflect well on the area”.

On Twitter, user @AjShehata wrote: “Someone really took a picture of my house, circled the BLM sign in my window and sent this letter…” and posted an image of the letter in question.

The poster failed to sign their name, but they had gone to the length of photographing the family’s home and including it.

The text read: “Whilst I applaud your support for Black Lives Matter, personally, as a local resident, I rather feel as if it’s a protest message to your neighbours, and neighbourhood, implying that we need to change the way we think. That is not the case; we are all on the same side.

“I do feel the notice doesn’t reflect well upon the area – imagine if we all put up notices in our windows to visibly show our support for good causes, how would South Cheam look?

“Sadly, many of the young black lives taken these days are by young blacks themselves – hopefully one day that will change.

“Lastly, may I congratulate you on a marvellous looking house which is a real asset to the local area – it has been very tastefully designed (apart from your sign).”

Aj Shehata and his family, of Sudanese heritage, live in South Cheam, Sutton where the letter was hand-delivered to their address.

Aj told Metro.co.uk: “My father opened it yesterday and then sent the picture of the letter straight to our family group chat.

“To receive a passive aggressive letter with some seriously wrong racial undertones, a picture of our house with the BLM sign circled, was not just upsetting but also quite scary.”

Aj explained that he and his family connect strongly with the BLM movement and, although this incident has shocked them, it has “spurred us on to do more for the movement”.