Racist Letter Sent To Long Island Family — Says ‘You Don’t Belong Here’ — Police Probe


An offensive racist letter was sent to an African-American family on Long Island. The letter claims that the Suffolk County Village of Lindenhurst, where the family lives, is overwhelmingly white and tells them “you don’t belong here,” according to WABC-TV Channel 7 New York.

The anonymous note sent to a black resident asks her and her family to move, claiming that the town is “84 percent white.” The hate crimes unit of the police department on Long Island is investigating, according to Channel 4 New York. The note states the following, in all capital letters. The original letter has been sent for fingerprinting, and detectives spoke to residents by going door-to-door.

“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. WHERE THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU, SORRY IF THIS IS RUDE, BUT IT’S THE TRUTH.”

The racist letter was sent to Darcell Copes. Unfortunately, the vile letter shattered the sense of calm that she thought she had found with her children in the otherwise peaceful Long Island community. She lives there with her three grown children and five grandchildren.

Daughter Ronica Copes uploaded the letter to Facebook and it went viral. The family is receiving support from the commununity, and other residents are outraged that such a revolting, menacing letter would be sent. A little girl even brought the family flowers.

The family has lived there for two years and has not experienced such outright racism until now, and Copes can’t imagine who would send such a revolting letter. The Babylon Town and Lindenhurst Village in a jointly-issued statement, condemned the letter for its “racist hateful views.”

County Executive Steve Bellone issued a statement regarding the letter, calling the person who wrote and sent the letter to Copes a “coward who committed a hate crime against an innocent family,” and stated the following, according to Channel 4 New York.

“There is no place for intolerance in Suffolk County. I know the Suffolk County Police Department will do everything possible to solve this hate crime, out you and see you punished. I stand together with all Lindenhurst residents who decry this act of hatred. This community and all of Suffolk County are better than that.”

And although Copes called the letter writer a “coward,” she is still praying for whoever wrote it, and she noted that she does not plan on moving, and stated the following according to WABC-TV Channel 7 New York.

“Sometimes you have a preconceived idea of how a person is just because you don’t know them. You don’t know how they live, you don’t know what they believe. I’ll continue to pray for you and you need to get out and meet people.”

Unfortunately, even though it’s 2015 and one would hope that society has progressed where race relations are concerned, there is still overt racism even when dining out. A New Orleans waiter was fired this weekend after allegedly writing a racial slur on a receipt given to black customers. Reportedly, the waiter purposely left the offensive phrase viewable on the receipt after removing a charge for an ordered food item. On Thursday, 23-year-old Dakota Crochet was working at Huck Finn’s, a sports bar and restaurant located in New Orleans’ French Quarter, when he printed out the receipt with the phrase “N—– 100% dislike” appearing in bold, capital letters, according to an article in the Inquisitr.

[Photo By Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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