“Stupid.” That’s the word a California man used to describe the anonymous letter his interracial family received on May 1.
As Fox 40 reports, Marc Yu, who is Filipino and Chinese, and his wife Sandy, who is Mexican, have five children together. The family purchased and moved into their two-story home in Vacaville, California last November.
Marc explained:
“We were trying to be the best family and community, church-going family, that represents what we consider a good American family.”
According to Fox 40, neighbors described the Yu family as kind. For example, the family has allowed homeless grandparents and a grandson, along with two women who struggled to find a place to live, to stay with them in the past.
Likewise, Sandy described the individuals they’ve encountered as kind also.
The mother of five said:
“The community, as far as the ones that we have met so far, have been very welcoming, along with most of Vacaville.”
Therefore, the couple was quite surprised when they received an anonymous letter asking them to move out of their home.
As Fox 40 reports, Marc said:
“I’m not going to judge what kind of person this person is, but I’m gonna tell you this, is that what you did was stupid.”
Further, the person who wrote the letter inaccurately assumed that the family was renting.
In part, the letter stated:
Renters like yourselves cannot possibly afford a home in our area…This is not the ghetto…. 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 60 days.
For my protection, I will remain anonymous, but the clock is ticking.
Marc and Sandy said they felt angry and were in disbelief that racism like this exists in such a diverse city.
Sandy told Fox 40:
“Whoever wrote it, if it’s a joke, then it’s a really sick joke to play on anybody.”
Despite the threatening letter, the Yu family plans to stay in their home because they do not feel the letter represents the entire community, Fox 40 reports.
Marc said:
“We just try to keep our kids to understand the raw value of things and understand what’s right and what’s wrong. Not everybody is a bad apple. There’s more good people than there are bad people.”
However, the couple did contact Vacaville police. Officers say the letter doesn’t count as a hate crime, but that they stand in solidarity with the Yu family.
And they agree that the letter does not reflect the feelings of the rest of the community.
