The leaflets, placed in plastic bags and weighted down with everything from pennies to cat litter, were filled with racist and anti-immigrant propaganda. They echoed the 14-word anthem of many white-supremacist groups: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

Hines used the incident to educate her two pre-teen sons about hate groups.

"This is an ugly thing to happen, but it is a way to start that dialogue with your kids, too," she said. "It's better than waiting for them to find out on their own."

Hines also brought the leafleting incident to the attention of her neighborhood association.

"It made me sick to my stomach," said another neighbor, Danna Goodson. Goodson picked up leaflets from other neighbors' yards and called police. "I just felt dirty after looking at it; I wanted to go and wash my hands."

Leafleting is a common practice of U.S. hate groups. It happens across the country, in cities small and large. Typically, no laws are broken. But it's important to report the incidents to police so they can track hate groups.

Joe Roy of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which tracks U.S. hate groups, said leafleting is a form of recruitment that can lead to new hate-group chapters forming in a community.

"By keeping up with how often a group is leafleting, and what group is distributing, authorities can get an idea of how active a group or chapter is in the area, and how sophisticated," Roy said.

Roy and others advise taking the following steps:

• Contact city officials about the incident. They can denounce the hate activity publicly.

• Learn common hate-group slogans and symbols, so you can recognize any further activity.

• Talk to your children, your neighbors and others about the incident, sharing what you know about the hate groups involved. Use the incident as an opportunity to reinforce your own values about tolerance and acceptance.

• Offer additional support to targeted neighbors. If the leaflets focus on specific residents or homes, create neighborhood-watch teams, hold vigils and show solidarity.

Find out which hate groups are active in your area. Go

Find out which social justice groups are active in your area. Go