A family who recently bought a house in the Town of Cedarburg received an anonymous letter in the mail telling them to "move to the ghetto."

Shannon Lilly, who is white, and her fiance, Devin Harris, who is black, have lived together in the City of Cedarburg for seven years. The couple and their two children moved four months ago to a house in the rural Town of Cedarburg.

They haven't yet met any of their neighbors — or even spent time outside — and were shocked to receive a short, expletive-laden letter in the mail Wednesday addressed to "The Scums."

Lilly posted pictures of the letter on Facebook, and it quickly went viral. Her post has been shared more than 1,000 times within 24 hours, with more than 1,000 comments offering support to the family.

"It's overwhelming," Lilly said. "I wish I could thank every person individually. You see something like that, and it really brings you down. This (community reaction) kind of erases that negativity."

As the Facebook post went viral, City of Cedarburg resident Danielle Savick organized an impromptu rally Thursday evening in front of Cedarburg City Hall. About 80 people attended the rally, with many carrying signs condemning racism.

During the rally, Erica Turner, co-founder of a local social justice organization called Bridge the Divide, said "racism, both overt and subtle, are still powerfully affecting individuals and systems in all of our communities."

"It is time to wake up to the idea that the opposite of love is not hate. It's apathy," she said. "If we stay silent, the status quo will prevail."

Lilly reported the letter to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, which said it is investigating the matter.

City of Cedarburg Mayor Mike O'Keefe said at the rally he is confident that the Town of Cedarburg leadership, the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office and the Ozaukee County District Attorney's Office will conduct an "exhaustive effort into finding the source of this contemptible act."

Contact Jeff Rumage at (262) 446-6616 or jeff.rumage@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffRumage or Facebook at www.facebook.com/northshorenow.