A Minnesota resident has received a scathing letter slamming their decision to put up Christmas decorations due to the "harmful impact" they can have on the local community.
The letter has since gone viral after it was shared by the official Twitter account for Crime Watch Minneapolis, however, both the individual who wrote the letter and its recipient have remained anonymous.
Alongside an image of the letter, Crime Watch Minneapolis wrote:
"St. Anthony resident receives anonymous letter chastising them for their Christmas light display and calls it a reminder of 'systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas or can't afford to put up lights of their own.'
"It further calls the lights 'harmful'."
The letter in question reads: "I couldn't help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times, we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don't describe what we're feeling.
It continues: "The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas or who can't afford to put up lights of their own."
The letter then goes on to say that we "must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward-facing display like yours can have."
The neighbor then "challenges" the recipient to "respect the dignity of all people while striving to learn from differences, ideas, and opinions of our neighbors."
If they weren't happy with the Minnesota resident, they'd be absolutely fuming that this mom put up her decorations a whole three months early:"We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities," the letter concludes. "St. Anthony is a community welcoming of all people and we must demand better for ourselves."
The post has received 495 quote tweets and counting since it was posted yesterday, December 7.
It appears that the vast majority of commenters vehemently disagree with the contents of the letter, with one person writing: "Saw this coming a long time ago. 'If I can’t have it nobody can' or 'if they have it we all deserve it' that’s not life."
Another said: "Ironic that the letter writer is doing exactly what they accuse the homeowner of doing- not being accepting of others. I would redouble my lights."
A third shared: "If I were the recipient of that letter, I would put up THREE TIMES the amount of lights that I originally had put up."
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments section.
