Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Are These Mailbox Flyers in South Fresno Racist?
David Website Replacement
By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 5 years ago on
June 23, 2020

Share

Ebony Hailey will not let her 11-year old daughter, Rebekah, collect the mail anymore.

Even though the box is across the street from Hailey’s south Fresno home, after what she found there Monday, the daily mail is off-limits.

Rebekah told her mom, an education administrator with Fresno Unified, that someone posted disturbing flyers on the community box, a caricature of a boy of color, along with flyers that said “Coronavirus.”

Hailey checked out the mailbox herself and snapped a photo. What she saw concerned her.

“What in the world is this? What message are we sending? Why is this up here?” Hailey said.

No one saw who posted the flyers. They were later removed, although Hailey and her neighbors did not know who did that either.

Racially Motivated?

“It crossed the line, whether people think it’s just a prank or if they think it’s minute. But the reality is these are sensitive and fragile times.” — Ebony Hailey

Hailey wasn’t sure if the flyers were racially motivated, but it made her wonder.

“I’m the only one that I’m aware of with a little black boy in this neighborhood and a little black girl,” Hailey said. “It didn’t feel right. It didn’t sit right with me. The way that it was put on display was not a good feeling at all.”

Hailey and her family have lived in the neighborhood for nearly 15 years. This is the first time she recalled anything like this. She reached out to her friends to ask their thoughts, and also called the postal service.

After canvassing the surrounding neighborhoods, it was only the mailbox near the Hailey family and other households of people of color that had the flyers attached.

“It crossed the line, whether people think it’s just a prank or if they think it’s minute. But the reality is these are sensitive and fragile times,” Hailey said.

Explaining the Flyers to Her Children

What did Hailey tell her children?

“This is why we don’t look at the negative things that are going around social media. You need to understand your history, who you are, where you come from, where you’re going,” Hailey said. “God is always around them, protecting them from things from dangerous — seen and unseen.”

Young Rebekah was still processing things.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate. You don’t put (flyers) of people with that skin color on mailboxes,” Rebekah said.

Hailey had her daughter scrub her hands and arms when she returned home, out of precaution.

11-year old Rebekah Hailey (left) and her mother, Ebony Hailey (GV Wire/Jahz Tello)

Picture of Disney Cartoon Character

Baljeet from “Phineas and Ferb” (Disney Channel)

The image was of Baljeet, a character from the Disney Channel cartoon “Phineas and Ferb” about a blended family. In the show, Baljeet — of Indian descent — is a somewhat-wimpy sidekick to the main characters.

Other neighbors felt uncomfortable with the flyers as well.

The mailbox is next to the home of Jasmine Kaur and her family, who are of Indian descent.

“There’s a lot of negativity going on already. We don’t need more,” Kaur said.

She didn’t think the flyer was directed at her or her family.

“It’s probably somebody pranking,” Kaur said.

For Hailey, it didn’t matter if the character was Indian or Black.

It still didn’t make a difference if it was a child who was dark of skin color. I don’t think whoever posted that … maybe they weren’t aware of what character it was,” Hailey said.

Post Office Response

A spokeswoman for the USPS told GV Wireâ„  a postal inspector will investigate the incident.

“The Postal Service does not allow postings to be placed on any mail receptacles. The manager has informed the carrier to remove any flyers encountered on this route,” the spokesman said.

The mailman for the neighborhood said Monday was his first day, and he noticed only one flyer at the time. He flipped up the flyer to open the community box and deliver the mail.

He didn’t realize the significance of the image.

“I didn’t even pay attention to it. I didn’t know what that was about,” said the carrier who did not want to give his name.

“I pray it doesn’t happen to anybody else throughout our community near Fresno. We’re all in this community, and we all got to live here.” — Ebony Hailey

What Hailey Would Say to Whoever Posted the Flyers

Hailey talked about what she would say to the person responsible for the flyers.

My question is why? What were you thinking? What do you think you were going to get out of that? Now, I have to put my kids on alert, even more so to be aware of their own surroundings, their own neighborhood that they were born and raised in. And that’s not a conversation I thought I would have to have here.”

Hailey hopes that if anyone sees more flyers like that in the future, they’ll take them down.

I pray it doesn’t happen to anybody else throughout our community near Fresno,” she said. “We’re all in this community, and we all got to live here.”

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

DON'T MISS

Fresno Nonprofit CEO Sandra Celedon Files to Run for Assembly

DON'T MISS

Ontario Slaps 25% Tax Increase on Electricity Exports to US in Response to Trump’s Trade War

DON'T MISS

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

DON'T MISS

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

DON'T MISS

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

DON'T MISS

LA District Attorney Says He Won’t Support Resentencing the Menendez Brothers

DON'T MISS

Study Tells CA Legislators to Declare War on Red Tape. Will They Do It?

UP NEXT

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

UP NEXT

Visalia Men Arrested for Homicide After Deadly Attack at Apartment Complex

UP NEXT

Visalia Head-On Crash Kills One, Leaves One Injured

UP NEXT

Washington Post Columnist Quits After Her Opinion Piece Criticizing Owner Is Rejected

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Nicholas Javier Villarreal

UP NEXT

Bills Reward NFL MVP Josh Allen With $330 Million Contract Extension

UP NEXT

Fresno State Alum Davante Adams Returns to California, Signs with Rams

UP NEXT

Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near the White House

UP NEXT

Mystery Solved? A Submerged Car From the 1950s May Belong to a Missing Oregon Family

David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

13 hours ago

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

14 hours ago

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

14 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

16 hours ago

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

16 hours ago

LA District Attorney Says He Won’t Support Resentencing the Menendez Brothers

17 hours ago

Study Tells CA Legislators to Declare War on Red Tape. Will They Do It?

17 hours ago

Visalia Men Arrested for Homicide After Deadly Attack at Apartment Complex

17 hours ago

Visalia Head-On Crash Kills One, Leaves One Injured

18 hours ago

Washington Post Columnist Quits After Her Opinion Piece Criticizing Owner Is Rejected

18 hours ago

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

A Fresno man pleaded guilty Monday to sexually exploiting a minor, admitting he coerced a 15-year-old in Missouri into sending explicit imag...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

Fresno Man Used Popular Game ‘Among Us’ to Exploit Minor Pled Guilty

13 hours ago

Fresno Nonprofit CEO Sandra Celedon Files to Run for Assembly

People wave flags and hold signs during a protest outside of the U.S embassy in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)
13 hours ago

Ontario Slaps 25% Tax Increase on Electricity Exports to US in Response to Trump’s Trade War

13 hours ago

Bakersfield Man Who Made Bomb Found Near Community Pool Pleads Guilty

14 hours ago

Fresno City Attorney Janz Launches Probe Into Attack Campaign Mailer

14 hours ago

New Atmospheric River Expected to Boost Sierra Snowpack

Fresno police arrested two suspects, Jesus Cardenas, 26, and Frank Alvarez, 40, and seized 15 firearms during a long-term investigation into illegal firearm manufacturing and trafficking, with two suspects still at large. (Fresno PD)
16 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Two and Seize 15 Firearms in Gang-Related Investigation

16 hours ago

The Populist vs. the Billionaire: Bannon, Musk and the Battle Within MAGA

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend