DEARBORN HEIGHTS
– “We Americans hate you Arabs. Stop your
fucking horn blowing or die. Go back to your Middle Eastern country.”

This was an excerpt
from one of two letters received by a Dearborn Heights woman this week from an
unknown neighbor. 

Dearborn Heights
police are considering the threats a high priority and have launched an
investigation. 

The family, who
lives in the neighborhood close to Inkster Road and Warren Ave., moved into the
house less than six months ago.

The woman, who
wishes to remain anonymous, is worried for the safety of her young children. Within
a one-week period, she received two racially charged letters in her mailbox
from an anonymous neighbor who threatened violence against the family.

One of the
letters was inside an envelope that was labeled ‘Arab’ with no return address.

The first letter
stated; 

“Please quit honking your horn everyday
and disturbing your neighbors. Are you stupid that you don’t understand how
annoying it is? I know you are sand n*ggers and don’t understand American
culture, but stop the madness before something bad happens to your house or
you. Thank you, Sincerely your neighbor.”

A few days
later, she received a second letter. This time it was more vulgar.

“Stop honking your horn blowing you dumb
sand n*gger. Stop the madness. We Americans hate you Arabs. Stop your fucking
horn blowing or die. Go back to your Middle Eastern country. We HATE you more
than n*ggers.”

The woman’s
attorney, Amir Makled, who practices at the Law Office of Cyril Hall in
Dearborn, said the woman was both startled and confused over the letters.

Up until this
point, no one in her family had gotten into a confrontation with a neighbor,
nor had they been cited for disturbing the peace.

The only
possible situation she had linked the threatening letter to was her car alarm.
There were a few instances where it went off randomly. She had the alarm
removed immediately after it started acting up.

Makled believes
the family is being targeted by a bigoted neighbor due to their faith.

While more Arab
American residents have been moving into Dearborn Heights in recent years, the
city is still predominantly white.

 “She wears a
headscarf and people can automatically perceive her as a Muslim American,”
Makled said. “She thinks it’s a hypersensitive neighbor. Her kids are really
young and her husband lives abroad. She doesn’t feel safe in her own home.” 

Makled said
Dearborn Heights Police Chief Lee Gavin is treating the case as a high priority and has
assured the family that the city will not tolerate any Islamophobic threats.

“Chief Lee Gavin
is taking it upon himself to investigate this matter,” Makled said. “The city
doesn’t stand for any Islamophobic remarks or threats like this. I respect the
Chief for reaching out to us and putting us at ease.”

 Following the
attacks in Paris last week claimed by ISIS, Islamophobia appears to have
trickled into the metro Detroit region.

 Over the
weekend, a Michigan woman who had served in the Navy threatened the city of
Dearborn on her twitter account. She later apologized for her remarks after her
tweet created a social media firestorm. Dearborn police and the FBI are
considering pressing charges against her.

Makled urges
residents to be cautious about possible threats that may come their way. He
said bigotry has prevailed against the community in recent days and that local
authorities need to take the threats seriously, even if it’s by an anonymous
individual or someone behind a keyboard.

 “The ultimate
issue here is we need to expose the level of racism that is pervasive in the
community,” Makled said.  “This neighbor
wants to hide. He wants to throw a stone and hide his hand. Nobody wants to be
racist in public. That’s the cowardness of racism today. It’s there and it’s
very much so an issue that we need to address.”