Family in SF gets threats for displaying ‘Black Lives Matter’ poster

Fil-Am Bill Tamayo and Chinese American wife, Debbie Lee, received hate mail and threats after putting up a Black Lives Matter in their front window. PINTEREST

SAN FRANCISCO – For displaying a “Black Lives Matter” poster in their front window, an Asian American couple have received threats and hate messages in recent months.

Debbie Lee, a Chinese American, and her Filipino American husband, Bill Tamayo, posted the sign nearly two years ago, according to KRON TV.

Last July they received a letter saying, “BLUE LIVES MATTER! Get rid of your sign, or WE will!” Then after the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, another note was left in their mailbox, saying, “It’s time to replace your BLM sign. How about Chink Lives Matter.”

The couple considers these messages a threat to their family and their property. “We think it might be someone in the neighborhood because they know we are Asian,” Debbie Lee told CBS News.

Lee is a senior vice president for Futures Without Violence, a national nonprofit focused on domestic and sexual violence and child trauma. Her husband Bill Tamayo, is the district director for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Their daughter, Celi Tamayo-Lee said the political climate and the behavior of President Donald Trump have emboldened the open expression of racism and rightwing hate.

The family has put up a second window sign that reads, “Standing With My Neighbors Against Hate.”

Lee supports the Black Lives Matter movement because “African-Americans have been shot down in much disproportionate numbers.”