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Above photo: From Twitter.

Centreville, VA – As a child, my mother used to take me to Cox Farms in Virginia to pick strawberries. My older siblings went to school with members of the Cox Family. I always thought of the Cox Family as hard-working salt-of-the-earth people. And now I have even greater respect for them.

I was surprised to see the Cox Family Farm in the news recently. One member of the family, Aaron Cox,  put a “Black Lives Matter” sign in the window of their private home which is on property adjacent to the farm. This sparked an intense backlash from the president of the Fairfax County Fraternal Order of Police, Brad Carruthers, who called for a boycott of the farm. See the news report here.

“I think there should be more discretion particularly during the busiest time of their season.  I made the choice that I am not going to go there. It is up to others to make their own decisions.”

And it led to a tense discussion on Facebook. Click here to read the thread.

In FB post, Fairfax FOP urges boycott of Cox Farms after off-duty officer offended by #BlackLivesMatter sign. @WUSA9 pic.twitter.com/ciaCc9E9BH

— Mola Lenghi (@MolaReports) October 15, 2015

In response, the Cox Family released a beautiful statement defending their position that “Black Lives Matter.” To me, this underscores the necessity of taking bold stands and having the courage to hold difficult conversations.

Show your appreciation to the Cox Family for being on the side of love and justice.

Below is a response provided by the Cox Family regarding the recent controversy about the Black Lives Matter sign displayed in the window of a residence there:

Cox Farms hosts a Fall Festival every year at our farm in Centreville, VA. We spend all year eagerly preparing for these few weeks each fall, and we love opening our farm to celebrate the season with our community.

Recently, several individuals as well as the Fairfax County Fraternal Order of Police have called for a boycott of our farm, insisting that we are, in their words, anti-police supporters of a terrorist organization that advocates killing police officers. (While the FOP deleted their original Facebook post, you can read it here: https://twitter.com/MolaReports/status/654511007692365825/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw, and the full comments here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByARN1OT9G_2TWFsUi1IaGE3TDQ/view.) They have come to this conclusion because one of us (there are five owners of our business; the two founders and their three adult children) has a “Black Lives Matter” sign displayed in an upstairs window of their private residence. The home is on a separate property that is not owned by Cox Farms, but it is very visible to visitors entering the Fall Festival.

We have always believed that we had a very positive relationship with our local police department. We have contracted FCPD officers to provide security for our festival for over a decade. We have supported their fundraising efforts, donated to their Police Unity tour, employed their children, and offered discounts to officers on our Public Servants Weekends. Neither our family nor our business is anti-cop, and we are absolutely anti-violence, against anyone. For this reason, we were especially surprised that the FOP and so many local officers jumped on the call to boycott our business and make such hateful accusations against us via social media.

Black Lives Matter. As a family, we believe that Black lives matter, and we find it alarming that the statement incites such a backlash. Neither our sign nor the Black Lives Matter movement says that ONLY Black lives matter, or that Black lives matter more than anyone else, and the sign certainly doesn’t say anything about police officers. When you’re putting out a house fire, it doesn’t mean that you only care about that one house that’s burning; it just means you’re addressing the crisis at hand. Folks dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer aren’t saying that all other cancers are unimportant. Our family recognizes that all lives are important, and because we believe that, we know that Black lives matter.

Valuing Black lives and respecting the lives and work of police officers are not mutually exclusive. Knowing and respecting as many FCPD officers as we do, we’re confident that many on our local police force know and understand this too; after all, how can they serve and protect all members of our community if they do not believe that Black lives matter? We also know that the threatening comments on the original FOB Facebook post (those referencing throwing a brick through the window of our home, or the ones implying that perhaps the police might not respond to emergency calls for help) do not reflect the values and work ethic of the Fairfax County police officers we know and respect.

Most of the people who are really mad about the sign are so offended because they believe the sign message is a direct attack on police officers. Yes, we have read the Black Lives Matter manifesto. From their website: “#BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.” That statement is absolutely in line with our family values. As a family, we are anti-racist and pro-justice. We recognize that systemic racism is real, and we embrace our roles as allies working to dismantle it.

At this point, when completely mainstream presidential candidates openly embrace Black Lives Matter as a legitimate organization and a crucial voice in the conversation about racial justice and racism in this country, it was shocking to us to see the vitriol expressed about the sign in our family’s window. Is this some radical declaration from Cox Farms? No. Is the Cox family endorsing killing police officers? Of course not, and if you read anything from the actual organization, neither is Black Lives Matter.

Are there some folks on the fringe who are so angry at the state of racism and disregard for Black lives in this country that they were chanting violent words in heated emotional moments of protesting? Yes, that happened. But are there individual police officers who have unjustifiably killed innocent Black people? Yes, that has happened, too. These are both truths in a complicated conversation about race and violence and racial justice.

As a family, we embrace complicated conversation; growing up, it was part of our family dinners every night. We encourage anyone who actually wants to join a dialogue about the sign or the movement to start by reviewing information directly from the source: you can read what Black Lives Matter is actually about here.

About fifteen years ago, some visitors started a boycott of our Fall Festival because we flew rainbow flags over our hay tunnel, and they were concerned that Cox Farms was “promoting the homosexual agenda.” Our business has continued to grow, and our rainbow flags are still flying.

As a family, we know that when you’re on the right side of history, love wins. Right now, it means that some people in our community no longer feel comfortable supporting our business, and we respect that. We realize that some police officers no longer feel welcome at our business, and to them, we extend an invitation to dialogue with us about that, or to just come and play with their families. We’re a really fun and welcoming place, and it looks like a great weekend to play at the Fall Festival!

In Respect and Community,
The Cox Family
Aaron Cox-Leow, Lucas Cox-Galhotra, Lily Cox-Richard, Eric Cox, and Gina Richard