Acworth police are investigating racist letters that were mailed this week to several residents in a subdivision.
The agency took about a dozen reports from residents who said the letters started appearing in mailboxes in the The Cottages at Abernathy Farm neighborhood on Monday, said Acworth police Capt. Mark Cheatham.
Cheatham said the letters were placed in envelopes, stamped and dispatched through the United States Postal Service. The neighborhood’s entrance is on Lake Acworth Drive just east of Cobb Parkway.
The text reads “We want this neighborhood just for white people. Out Hispanics. Out Blacks. Out Asians.” A photograph of the letter was shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Rev. Donald Moore, one of several residents who received the letter.
He said the letters appear to have targeted minorities in the neighborhood because they were the only ones who received them.
“I was extremely shocked and stunned,” he said. “This is something that should not be happening.”
Cheatham said Acworth police are working with the United States Postal Inspection Service in its investigation. He also said the department has stepped up patrols in the community.
“We are throwing everything we have at this because we recognize the seriousness of this,” he said.
Cobb County police spokeswoman Shenise Barner said the department has not received any recent reports of similar letters appearing in mailboxes in unincorporated communities near the subdivision.
Moore said community members have reached out to the Cobb County branch of the NAACP, which asked the residents to each submit a letter documenting their concerns.
“We can not let this be swept under the rug,” he said.
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