African American family receives letter asking them to leave Long Island town they live in

Communities across the country are rallying behind an African American family from Lindenhurst, New York who received a threatening letter to leave the predominantly white neighborhood. It’s being investigated as a hate crime and officials in the town of Babylon have condemned the anonymous author of the letter.

When Ronica Copes posted the typed letter to Facebook last week, it quickly went viral. She wrote racism is a “daily reality, I've just never seen it in this form.”

“Lindenhurst is 84% white population. You don’t belong here!!!” reads the letter. “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.”

The town of Babylon has since responded in a statement, writing “The best way to fight bias is with solidarity and we stand with all of our residents in declaring that there is no place for this type of intolerance and hatred in the Village of Lindenhurst, the Town of Babylon, or anywhere in our community. We are, and always will be, a strong diverse community that does not cede ground to hostility, ignorance, or hatred, wherever it may appear.”

New York Post reports Copes has lived in the Long Island town since 2013, working as a caterer and a freelance publicist. She noted that she won’t be leaving on account of this anonymous threat and definitely won’t stand for it either, taking her story to the media to raise awareness.

“I don’t know what their motive was, but it didn’t work,” she said.

image via Facebook from Ronica Copes