California family receives racist letter: 'Your interracial family is not welcome here'
A couple in Vacaville, Calif., were shocked to receive an anonymous letter from a person claiming to be their neighbor, which they stated their "interracial family is not welcome here."
Marc Yu was on his way to work when he stopped at his mailbox and found the letter Wednesday morning. "The Meadowland is an older neighborhood with established residents living in this area for over 20 years,” the letter, which Yu shared on Facebook, read. “We pride ourselves for the cleanliness and quiet atmosphere in the area. Very little crime as well. The community is making this request that you find another place to live. Renters like yourselves cannot possibly afford a home in our area... This is not the ghetto."
The letter continued: "We may sound harsh, but your interracial family is not welcome here. We will contact your landlord and tell them to evict you if you don't vacate in the next 60 days.”
Yu, who is of Chinese and Filipino descent, and his wife, Sandy, who is Mexican-American, own the home. "I can’t wait for them to contact the 'Landlord,'" Yu wrote on his Facebook post. “I can’t believe this s**t still happens.”
Vacaville police Lt. Mark Donaldson told the San Francisco Chronicle that, while the letter was "disturbing and disappointing and not representative of the community," it was unlikely a criminal violation because it doesn’t threaten physical violence.
Yu told NBC Bay Area that he received another letter a few months ago about his front yard. After receiving a notice from the city, he cleaned it up. "We have a lot of stuff. We have a lot of kids. So a lot of our stuff was in the driveway at one point," he told NBC Bay Area.
The Yu family moved into the home in November, and the previous owners had not maintained the lawn. Yu has tried to improve his family's yard, but the process is slow, as he runs a mortgage company branch and his wife is busy with their five children, ages two to 12.
However, the anonymous letter writer seems to be an anomaly in the neighborhood. Yu's neighbors have stopped by his home to tell him and his family that they're welcome.
"I think it’s disgusting,” neighbor John McCleese told NBC Bay Area, referring to the letter. “There’s a reason they didn’t put their name on the letter. It’s racist."
Yu is hopeful that with all the attention the letter has received on social media that the neighbor who wrote the note will "not harass us anymore and just leave us alone."
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