Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Asian Widow Receives Letter Telling Her To 'Go Back To Your Country' On Day Of Husband's Burial

Asian Widow Receives Letter Telling Her To 'Go Back To Your Country' On Day Of Husband's Burial
CBS Los Angeles/Youtube

Yet another act of aggressive racism toward Asian people has occurred and been shared across the internet. This time, the intolerant hatred took the form of a handwritten note from one retirement home neighbor to another.

Claudia Choi, of Los Angeles, told CBS Los Angeles about the hate-filled message her mother received after the death of her husband, Choi's father, Byong.


The letter, which was postmarked on the very same day as Byong's funeral, included the following message:

"Now that Byong is gone it makes it one less Asian to put up with in Leisure World. You fricken Asians are taking over our American community! It is not resting well with all and everybody who lives here--true statement!!

Leisure World is the name of the retirement community Byong lived in, along with Choi's mother, until his recent death.

The note closed with a threat.

"Watch out! Pack your bags and go back to your country."

When speaking to CBS Los Angeles, Choi expressed her wide-ranging emotions following the incident.

"To target a grieving widow, it's disgusting. They postmarked it on the day of my father's funeral. How cruel could you be? Shame on them."
"Racism and hatred and cruelty needs to be denounced at every turn."

Choi expanded, describing how insidious this issue is—and called for advocacy.

"It's not just when somebody gets beaten up, although that's terrible or when women get murdered, that's awful, but when your neighbor says something like they need to go home or makes an Asian joke, you need to speak up and say that is not okay because these little things that we allow to pass lead to bigger things."


As for the formal response from Leisure World, a spokesperson confirmed the community's complete intolerance for hatred like this.

"This malicious and egregious act of hate speech threatens our core values of racial equity and social justice… We condemn in the strongest possible terms such action and that all actions will be taken to locate and prosecute the individual."

Leisure World also went on to ensure that the writer of the letter, if discovered, would be expelled from the community.

As for the likelihood of a suspect being identified, CBS Los Angeles went on to report that the Seal Beach Police Department will investigate using DNA and handwriting analysis.

The FBI will also be involved, as the letter was sent by mail, thus placing it in the federal agency's jurisdiction.

When another member of the Choi family posted the letter to their Facebook, people came in droves to express their outrage.

Mike Vo/Facebook


Katie Buckley Stevens/Facebook


Grace Jeng/Facebook


Kari Peyton/Facebook


Jules Bruff/Facebook


Joe Catone/Facebook

This, of course, was by no means an isolated incident.

CBS Los Angeles reported that Stop AAPI Hate, an organization that encourages people to report such hate incidents, has had 360 reports just in Los Angeles in the past year.

That figure reflects an alarming uptick nationwide, with 3,800 reports made in 2020, a 149% spike from the prior year.

Rest in power, Byong.

More from Trending

unidentified female Trump supporter at MAGA rally
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images

MAGA Mom Goes Viral After Revealing Her Son Refuses To Talk To Her Because She Voted For Trump

While people grapple with how to handle family members and friends who voted against their basic human rights, the people in question are dealing with the fallout from their choices.

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's embrace of the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 made clear the rights of women; ethnic, racial and religious minorities; the disabled; immigrants; and the LGBTQ+ community were at risk.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mike Lee
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

GOP Senator Faces MAGA Backlash Over Plan To Sell Millions Of Acres Of Public Land

Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee is facing harsh criticism—including from Team MAGA—over his proposal to sell off millions of acres of public land in the American West owned by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to supposedly create more affordable housing.

Lee claimed in his proposal that there is an "extensive process for interested parties like States and local governments to nominate land for disposal to meet housing and community needs," noting that it specifically exempts national parks, monuments, and federally designated wilderness areas from potential land sales.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Complaining That Americans Get 'Too Many' Federal Holidays Off Work

While it was ultimately former President Joe Biden who established Juneteenth as a federal holiday, President Donald Trump—who once campaigned on that promise—took to Truth Social on Juneteenth to whine about the number of "non-working holidays" Americans get, claiming that it costs businesses "billions of dollars."

Juneteenth is derived from June 19, 1865, when Union troops led by General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and declared that all enslaved African Americans in the state were free.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Carlos Barria - Pool/Getty Images

Donald Trump Called Out After Awkwardly Misspelling His Own Name In Post About Iran Attack

President Donald Trump was ripped by critics after he awkwardly misspelled his own name while praising the B-2 pilots who flew the strikes on Iran—only to later delete the post and repost it as if nothing happened.

On Saturday, Trump authorized a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman sitting up in bed as a man sleeps next to her.
Florida State University Researchers Find Predictors for Infidelity in New Study
(Wodicka/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The Biggest 'They're Definitely Cheating On Me!' Signs People Ignored

When our partner commits suspicious behavior, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions.

Most of the time, the conclusions we jump to are 100% wrong and are just our imaginations playing tricks with us.

Keep ReadingShow less