Racist Flyers Distributed in Upscale Neighborhood

Flyers filled with white supremacist racial epithets were deposited in the mailboxes of more than a 100 homes in an affluent Glendale neighborhood last week, prompting an official investigation and community outrage.

The handbills--which featured a caricature of a black man with a gun in his belt and a bottle of liquor in his pocket--urged readers to “join us,” and listed phone numbers in 10 area codes for those who were interested, recipients said.

One of the phone numbers was the same Glendale exchange that two weeks ago prompted an outcry by the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People because of its recorded message urging callers to mobilize for a “whiter and brighter future.”

Last week, the number’s recorded message stated that “it is impossible to live in harmony in a multiracial society” and urged callers to write to a Fullerton post office box to receive copies of the books “War” and “Racial Loyalties.”

It was the second time in several months that racist literature has been left in the same neighborhood in the Chevy Chase Canyon area, Glendale Police Sgt. Leif Nicolaisen said. An investigation of the earlier incident did not result in any arrests.

Police were checking the latest incident in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. Although the content of the flyers and the phone lines do not violate any laws, Nicolaisen said using mailboxes for anything other than mail is unauthorized and is a misdemeanor.

Area residents interviewed last week said they were appalled by the flyers.

“This shocked me,” said one woman, who asked that her name be withheld. “It was just despicable. It was worse than offensive.”

“I guess I forget that there are people that are really like this,” said another woman, who also requested anonymity. “I was totally taken aback.”