VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — The Evans family often decorates their Kempsville home to reflect the season. The front lawn is inhabited by inflatable Valentine’s Day decorations while the front door is topped with a montage of pictures of historic and contemporary figures in Black history.
But Thursday via mail, the family learned that the season of love and Black pride is apparently also the season of bigotry and hate.
Veonca Evans opened a business size white envelope with no return address; the mail was processed in Richmond, Virginia. Inside it contained a hand printed note on steno style paper. The contents of the anonymous note are is vile, racist and threatening.
“It was just using racial slurs, threats, stating that they were part of the KKK, basically demanding me to take my Black History Month stuff down or I would pay a price, and telling me to watch my car,” said Evans in an interview from the home shared by her mother and grandmother in South Carolina.
Evans set alarms, locked doors, and dialed 911 after she called on faith.
“Of course, I immediately started praying,” Evans said, “and I was freaking out because I just couldn’t imagine something like that would happen to me.”
Evans also said a Virginia Beach police officer responded and he reportedly promised she would see more patrols in her neighborhood.
Frightened by the experience, Evans and her three children packed their bags Thursday night and traveled by car for six hours to reach the safe arms of her mother and grandmother in Walterboro, South Carolina.
“I watched that [home surveillance] camera, and I did not see any police patrol past the house,” Evans said.
Regina Mobley: I looked at the terms that he used, the racial slurs and then the KKK. Can you sleep at night?
Veonca Evans: And that’s why I’ve been watching that camera since we got on the road.
Evan’s decor includes a quote from civil rights icon Rosa Parks. It reads, “you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”
Evans and a neighbor, Shavon Mitchell-Foreman are full of fear.
“We’re neighbors; we’re close by … our houses are connected,” Mitchell-Foreman said. “We don’t know if are they are just trying to target her or they’re trying to target all Black Americans who live on this block. We don’t know what’s going on and I want the Virginia Beach Police Department to take this seriously. This is a hate crime that just happened on our block.”
10 On Your Side reached out to a spokesperson for the police department who confirmed the matter is under investigation and a determination will be made on whether local or federal authorities will investigate the threat that was delivered via the United States Postal Service.