In a Facebook post on Sunday, the president of Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter and the Utah Black History Museum, Lex Scott, announced she was stepping down from both positions and had also relocated to another state for her safety and that of her family.
Scott, who is also the founder of the Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter, came under intense scrutiny in July following a controversial post she shared about the American flag on the group’s page. The activist also said she had been receiving death threats for the post.
Although Scott claimed the threats aren’t something new to her, she said she ultimately became exhausted “when someone attempted to climb over” her fence.
“Instead of defending myself, I relaxed my body and told myself that I wished they would hurry and get it over with. I did not even want to fight back. The exhaustion of being on defense had worn on me,” Scott said, adding that she did not also want to put her family in danger.
“I also was not prepared to have someone hurt my family. They are amazing. They do not deserve this life. This life of staying in hotels all the time when a death threat comes in. The massive security procedures that became a part of daily life. Moving my daughter’s bedroom to avoid a pipe bomb being thrown through her window.
“This is not life. And my family should not have to live that,” she wrote.
The activist drew the ire of a section of people in July after she shared a Facebook post referring to the American flag as “a symbol of hatred,” ABC4 reported.
“When we Black Americans see this flag we know the person flying it is not safe to be around. When we see this flag we know the person flying it is a racist,” Scott wrote in the July 4 post alongside a photo of the American flag. “When we see this flag we know that the person flying it lives in a different America than we do. When we see this flag, we question your intelligence. We know to avoid you. It is a symbol of hatred.”
Scott’s comments were swiftly condemned by a group of people including the state’s governor and Rep. Burgess Owens. The NAACP also released a statement in response to her post. Despite the backlash, Scott defended the post, telling ABC4: “Every time we have a protest we are surrounded by armed white men with guns and American flags who scream racial slurs at us. Every time we receive hate mail and death threats, they come from a profile picture with an American flag.”
She added: “Every time we receive any hatred it comes from someone flying an American flag. And I want people to ask themselves ‘how would you feel about the American flag if every person that hated you was flying that flag?’”
In Sunday’s post, Scott revealed she has since relocated to an “all black” city with her family where they’re accepted. “I have always felt ugly in Utah. Here, people stop to compliment me. They call me beautiful. They say that I am pretty,” she wrote. That notwithstanding, she admitted she’ll still miss Utah.
Scott announced Rae Duckworth will now serve as the president of Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter, while Mario Mathis will replace her as president of the Utah Black History Museum.
