Progressive politics may not be the first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about white, rural farmers. But Cox Farms of Centerville, Virginia doesn’t care. For quite a while they’ve been using their business sign to send out progressive messages about immigration, Black Lives Matter, and other social issues. And they hear about it, both good and bad, from customers.

Some of their signs have caused them to lose business. And In 2015, The Denver Post reports, a sign supporting Black Lives Matter caused a local police union to call for a boycott of their hayrides and pumpkin patches. Still, Cox Farms considers it important to speak up for inclusion.

In a Facebook post, they wrote,

“These signs are messages of inclusion posted so that they might provide assurance to someone who felt their validity and their belonging was being questioned, and to speak out in an increasingly hostile climate.

For most of the year, the signs at Cox Farms are more like the one they posted for Father’s Day, below.

Rise and Resist: Sign of the Times

A particularly nasty response to their sign reading Rise and Resist had the farm’s owners rethinking their strategy. They wanted to expand the message to something they thought everyone could agree on. Hence, Resist White Supremacy. A true sign of the times.

“That way, if someone takes a picture of one of our signs to post and says they are ‘saddened’ or ‘disappointed,’ they will be explicitly revealing themselves as the racist that they are,” The Denver Post reports Lily Cox-Richard saying. And it makes sense. Which is why Cox Farms never expected the response their new sign received.

On Facebook, they wrote,

“We sincerely believe that fighting injustice and white supremacy is a responsibility that can – and should – unite us all. We struggle to see how anyone other than self-identified white supremacists would take this as a personal attack.”

But, as they told The Independent, some people did take offense. Specifically, they accused Cox Farms of subtly suggesting that all Trump supporters were white supremacists.

Resist White Supremacy

But that was not the case, according to Cox Farms.

Aaron Cox-Leow said in her own Facebook post,

“We’re not seeking to alienate folks who have different perspectives on tax reform or infrastructure spending. But when it comes to speaking out against systems of oppression and injustice, we see it as our moral responsibility to use our position of privilege and power, along with the tools of our trade and the platforms available to us, to engage visibly and actively in the fight for justice.”

The posts have gone viral on both the right and the left, garnering thousands of reactions and comments. In addition to criticism, Cox Farms have found new support from all corners of the world. Supporters have handily outnumbered critics. But Cox Farms has responded to critics with openness and humor. In response to one commenter, who accused them of being exclusionary of white supremacists, Cox-Leow wrote,

“Yes, generally speaking, we are comfortable excluding white supremacists. If you know some who would be interested in dialoguing with us, please have them contact us!”

Here’s a photo of the family that runs the farm.

Featured image: Cox Farms via Facebook.