St. Albertans are fighting back with love after a Grandin family received an anonymous racist and threatening letter this week.
Katrina Anderson couldn’t believe it at first when she received a text message from her young daughter Monday about a hateful and racist letter that was left in their Grandin Woods Estates mailbox.
The unsigned, typed letter complained about Anderson’s children constantly rollerblading and scootering on their driveways, and playing football and basketball in the middle of the road. The writer said they would continue to file complaints with the condo management and “won’t stop until you’re gone.”
“We have been here for a very long time, we own our homes. You rent. Move out or things will escalate. Would not want to see the kids getting hurt. This isn’t a reserve. Go back to the reserve where Indians belong!” the letter read.
In shock, Anderson called her daughter, who was crying.
“I said to her, ‘Okay – they did not say that. Are you kidding me?’ … Then I had to look at the picture of the letter, and I was appalled. I’m still speechless and shocked,” she said Wednesday evening.
Anderson posted a photo of the letter to Facebook, where it spread quickly across St. Albert Facebook pages, sparking fury on her family’s behalf and prompting community members to organize a “flash mob of love” Wednesday evening.
“I shared the Facebook post last night, just with my family – just to see, am I overreacting?” Anderson said Wednesday.
“Right away, everybody was like, ‘No, that is not acceptable.”
She said receiving a letter like that, directed at her children, is “disgusting.”
“I’ve (experienced) racism, growing up – you know, I’ve lived here 27 years. But nothing like this,” Anderson said.
The family is moving from Grandin but plans to stay in St. Albert. Deciding to move left her feeling defeated, Anderson said, but when it comes to threats against her children she isn’t taking any chances.
“That’s where my job as a mom to protect them comes into play. Yes, we were comfortable here, and we loved this house, but I don’t want to risk that,” she said.
Anderson’s mother posted a photo of the letter on Facebook Wednesday and the post was soon shared across the social media platform thousands of times.
One neighbour, Jarod Gannon, who is attached to the unit the family lives in, said on the Grandin Facebook page they had never once had an issue with the children being rude or loud.
“This letter is just blatant racist bullshit. To the residents at 117, you can continue to live next to us anytime. To the author of this letter: go back to the 1820s where you belong,” Gannon said.
The condo board issued a statement regarding the letter and expressed their “deepest sympathy to the family over this deplorable act.” They said they will be cooperating with the RCMP in the investigation.
“As Board Members and long term residents of this community, we want to clearly state that we do not condone or tolerate any form of hate or harassment especially one that is influenced by racial intolerance. Further to this, we are extremely disturbed that the letter expressed harm to children. We should not forget this day,” the statement read.
The community mobilized quickly, and by Wednesday night Grandin Woods Estate resident Kristin Kalmbach had organized a flash block party to support the Anderson family because she didn’t want the family to live in fear.
“My heart as a mom, as a woman, as a part of this community, I was horrified to think about what she’s feeling and going through,” Kalmbach said. “I want them to know wherever they go in the city, I am their community.”
Amore Pizza and Whisk Dessert Co donated food for the event. Anderson’s son Kalen is part of the St. Albert Minor Football Association and two teams jogged to Grandin from Riel Park to show support to the family, where coach Rob Patrick made a speech to the boys about love and kindness.
The community support continued to pour in for the Anderson family over the following days, with a second city-wide block party planned for Sunday, Oct. 28, from 1 to 4 p.m at the St. Albert Grain Elevators.
Kevin Malinowski, a Grandin resident who is one of the organizers of the second block party, along with Marina Perilli, said he knew he had to do something when he read the letter on Wednesday.
“The hate and the racism and the threat to the kids in that letter just pushed me over the edge when I read it on Wednesday morning. It’s just so so wrong,” Malinowski said.
“I wanted to make sure Katrina and her family knew that that wasn’t St. Albert.”
Grandin resident Kris Wells started a letter- and card-writing initiative, inviting residents to send messages of love and support to the family.
MLA Trevor Horne has an anti-racism engagement session planned for Oct. 30 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the St. Albert United Church to discuss how to combat racism and foster diversity in the community.
