MCCORDSVILLE, Ind. — A McCordsville family is refusing to give in to what they consider to be hate mail sent to their home recently from someone in their own neighborhood.
Wes Smith and his family are one of the first to build a new home in the Woodhaven housing addition in McCordsville, which is about a half-hour drive outside of Indianapolis.
Woodhaven is managed by a homeowners' association out of Fort Wayne and is still under construction with more new homes.
"We love our neighborhood," Smith said. "Very peaceful for the most part. Again, it's a neighborhood and you got your people that agree and disagree."
The sender is unknown and remains anonymous, but made reference to the birthday party Smith had at his home last year to celebrate his 30th birthday.
They hired a DJ and held the event between 2 and 6 p.m., inside the "no noise" ordinance. They notified neighbors that there would be music, visitors' cars and to contact them if they came across any issues.
Before his birthday this year, the letter came and mentioned the sender being disappointed about living next to a Black family.
The sender used what appears to be untraceable handwriting to keep from being identified by authorities.
Although there is no mention of doing any physical harm to his family, Smith doesn't take the gesture lightly. He hopes others in his housing addition won't take it lightly either.
"It's a threat to my family's safety and the neighborhood safety for that matter because there are other black families in the neighborhood as well," Smith said.
When Smith and his wife picked out a lot in the Woodhaven subdivision with long-term plans to call it home, they never expected an anonymous letter threatening their family celebration plans of any kind.
The sender also wrote on behalf of the neighborhood that if he had another backyard party like last year, they would force it to shut down.
"Last year we posted in the neighborhood Facebook chat that we were going to have a birthday party," Smith said. "We were going to play music, we had a DJ, we had respectful hours from two in the afternoon until about six or seven."
Smith learned the letter was processed at the main post office in downtown Indianapolis and hoped McCordsville police could do more. But according to the McCordsville Police Department, the letter is not officially a crime and there are no exact matches in the Indiana Code that would even allow prosecutors or the U.S. Postal Inspector to charge anyone.
"The chief told us they couldn't take it any further from just a letter," Smith said. "In my opinion, it was a threat."
Smith, who graduated from Wabash College where he played basketball, plans to keep celebrating with family and friends despite the anonymous letter he considers a sign of the times.
"It's reality," Smith said. "You know, I've faced racism growing up."
Smith and his family are planning another birthday party and this time it may be even bigger this year to celebrate his wife's birthday on July 31.
Since learning about the letter, they have received countless signs of support from people in their housing addition along with support from people they don't know.
The Woodhaven subdivision is still growing with new construction, along with much of McCordsville.