Not that we need any more reminding that racism is still alive and well, but a black family in Suffolk County, NY received an anonymous letter this week asking them to leave town because they "don't belong" in a predominantly white neighborhood.
Police are investigating the letter sent to the Lindenhurst home of Darcell Copes, who has lived there for two years with her three adult children and five grandchildren. The disturbing all-caps note reads the following:
ATTN: AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY. THIS IS COMING FROM LINDENHURST COMMUNITY. YOU DON'T BELONG HERE!!! PLEASE LEAVE LINDENHURST AS SOON AS YOU CAN. IT WILL BE BETTER FOR ALL OF US. FIND THE TOWN WHERE THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU. SORRY IF THIS IS RUDE, BUT IT'S THE TRUTH.
Copes says she's horrified by the note. "I went from being fearful, protecting my family, to being totally confused, and wanted to know who and why," she told NBC 4 New York. "Today, it becomes even deeper: is it someone in the school district, is it the guy at the corner store, is it my neighbor down the street? Where?"
Lindenhurst officials condemned the letter, saying in a statement that there's "no room for intolerance or hatred in this community." But Copes's daughter, Ronica Copes, wasn't shocked. "Where they do that at?" she wrote on Facebook, regarding the letter. "Oh yeah Lindenhurst. Unbelievable but then it's not ... our daily reality, I've just never seen it in this form."
The cops' hate crimes task force is investigating.
