Black family outraged after receiving racist letter about twin daughters' graduation posters

Content warning: This story contains details of racism and fatphobia that readers may find disturbing

David and Toya T'mour Sproul are incredibly proud of their identical twin daughters, Xanah and Xarah, for both being the amazing young women that they are and having graduated high school with honors. So like every proud parent wanting to congratulate their children for their achievements, they put up posting bearing the girls' photos outside their home. But their happiness was marred by disbelief and then anger when Mr. Sproul came home from work last week to find an anonymous hateful letter about the signs in their mailbox. "It's time to take those hideous posters of that ugly fat black girl down off your house," the openly racist piece of hate mail read.

"What a disgrace to the neighborhood," it continued. "In fact, your entire brood is a disgrace to the neighborhood. Consider moving to a 'hood' of your kind. Your neighbors are watching you!" According to BuzzFeed News, although other residents of the Timbercreek Plantation subdivision in Yulee, Florida, posted similar congratulatory signs for their loved ones, the Sprouls were the only ones to receive such a hateful mail. "I started reading the letter out loud to my wife and she thought I was joking. And I'm like, 'There's no way I would ever say that about my daughters,'" Sproul revealed.

"And so she grabbed the letter and she read it and instantly got furious and confused," he added. Infuriated by their daughters being targetted in such a manner, Toya immediately contacted the police and filed a report. The Nassau County Sheriff's Office strongly condemned the incident in a statement. "We at the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office do not tolerate racism and hate crimes in our county," said Undersheriff Roy Henderson. "This is out of character for Nassau County and we will continue to investigate this incident. We are proud of the Sproul twins’ accomplishments and hope to get to the bottom of this soon."

Sproul explained that Xanah and Xarah were out of the house when he found the letter in their mailbox and when the sheriff's deputy was there filling out a report. Although he was worried about how they would take the news when they returned Thursday evening, the girls handled the situation with grace. "They kind of threw [the letter] down and then they went about their way," he said. "They are aware of what's going on in the country [with Black Lives Matter protests] but after reading it they could clearly see that the person doesn't know them. That's the nature of how they are because they're just super sweet girls."

Xanah and Xarah graduated with honors from Yulee High School where they were section leaders in the school band and members of the National Honor Society. The pair also have two Microsoft certifications, said Sproul, and are heading to Saint Leo University in the fall with scholarships to study in the school's honors premed program. "They've been ridiculously hard-working girls ever since kindergarten," the proud father said. "They've always pushed for the best. As twins, especially, they work together and help each other."

The family received support and love from all corners of the internet and their community after the girls' cousin posted a photo of the letter on Twitter, writing: My twin cousins graduated from high school this year. Both of my girls are going to college on full-ride scholarships in the honors program. Naturally, their parents are super proud. A neighbor anonymously left this letter in their mailbox & I am livid. This is in Yulee, Florida. I can’t even put into words how upset I am right now. A drive-by parade for the Sproul twins is planned for Thursday and people have been stopping by their house and calling to show support.

"We're getting responses from New Zealand, South America, Canada, and all over the US. People are voicing their support for them and that's phenomenal," said Sproul. He added that while Xanah and Xarah appreciate the support, they aren't seeking attention or gifts. "They actually hate all of this attention," he said. "But it definitely shows them that there's more love than the hate that's out there. And so for that, they've learned to be pretty grateful."