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‘This isn’t the Ghetto’: Indiana man says he got racist letter about his lawn

Posted at 8:11 PM, Jul 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-07 20:11:47-04

FISHERS, Ind. – An Indiana family wants to know who put a nasty note in their mailbox.

The Sullivan family, of Fishers, received an anonymous, typed letter criticizing them for not taking better care of their lawn and telling them they didn't live in the "ghetto."

“The biggest thing is just disheartening,” said Chris Sullivan, who told WXIN-TV they feel they’re being targeted because of their skin color.

Sullivan said he found the folded piece of paper in his mailbox Wednesday.

“(I) opened it started reading the first few lines and checked to see if anybody was watching and I finished it and was just like here we go,” Sullivan said.

The letter criticized Sullivan’s yard and said he needed to mow and get rid of the weeds.  It went on to say, "This isn’t the Ghetto and your home looks trashy." Whoever wrote the note also listed the cost of taking care of the lawn and threatened to have someone else do it, then bill the Sullivans.

Sullivan called the note racist.

“Sucks that it happened to me, sucks that it happens to anybody in 2017,” he said.

A couple of neighbors who didn’t want to go on camera told WXIN the subdivision is strict about cutting grass and they didn’t see the letter as an attack.  The letter was signed "the neighborhood Britton Ridge association," but Sullivan is confident the association itself isn't behind it.

“There’s not a lot of bad apples, there are probably just one or two,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan moved to Fishers a couple months ago from California.  He’s from Indiana and felt it was time for him, his wife and two kids to be closer to family.

“In the end result you can’t fight fire with fire, there’s other ways to go about it and that’s what I intend on doing,” he said.

Sullivan wants the sender of the letter to know there’s no need to be nasty, he or she can just be a neighbor.

“We are not moving and if you had enough courage you would just say 'Hello' and ask me to trim my tree down. I’m human, I eat, breath, sleep just like you do."

Since getting the letter, Sullivan is planning to install security cameras around his home as a precaution.  Sullivan says he is also reconsidering sending his 6-year-old son to school in the area.