BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - While some pass by the New Era Baptist Church and never notice a sign in the church’s front yard, there are others, especially those who live nearby, who can't help but see it.
"I really think it shouldn't be up there," says 16-year old Keagan Edwards.
He doesn't live too far from the sign that reads: "Black Folks Need to Stay Out of White Churches."
On the other side, it says: "White folks refused to be our neighbors."
"I wouldn't have a problem going to a predominately white church because everyone's not racist and you've got to give somebody a chance," says Edwards.
We're not exactly sure what Pastor Michael R. Jordan meant by the sign. We tried reaching him through the church phone number, however, it was disconnected.
But Jordan is no stranger to controversy.
In 2013, after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the Trayvon Martin case, he put up a sign that read: "George Zimmerman Jury Supported White Racism."
The latest sign caught the attention of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.
"There is a spirit that is over this city that has to be brought down. A spirit of racism and division," Woodfin said in a Facebook post. "We have to change the conversation to what we need it to evolve into. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that," the post went on to say.
William Summerville disagrees with the sign, but he feels there just may be some positive that can come from it. "It can bring a lot of people closer together because everybody is going to come together and start expressing their feelings and everybody can get on the same level and everybody can be happy," he says.
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