Racist vandals drive black family from home — but mayor ‘more concerned’ with getting paint off that ‘pretty building’

Travis Gettys TRAVIS GETTYS

19 APR 2018 AT 10:07 ET

A black family has moved out of their Tennessee home after enduring months of racist abuse — but the town’s mayor doesn’t think it’s a big deal. ... The family, who did not wish to give their names, said they were targeted with vandalism and discrimination after moving into their rental home last year, reported WBBJ-TV.

Investigators look into racial slurs spray painted on family’s home

April 18, 2018 Amanda Gerry

FRIENDSHIP, Tenn. — One man says racism is something he not only sees in movies and on the news but in his daily life. He says he used to live at a house on Depot Street where he’s never felt welcome. ... “It’s always been a message that we were not wanted here in Friendship, Tennessee,” said the renter of the home.

The renter of this home, who did not want to be on camera, says he has been experiencing racially discriminating incidents ever since he moved there over a year ago. ... “From vandalizing my car, garage, breaking in, stealing things, beating on the door late at night,” listed the man. ... He says just Wednesday morning, he discovered racial slurs spray painted on the walls of his house.

“That’s a pretty building, and it’s right on the corner there in the downtown area, and I was just more concerned with getting the paint off the building than I was anything else,” said Mayor Casey Burnett of Friendship. ... Mayor Burnett says he was one of the first people to see the graffiti, but he says he doesn’t consider it to be a hate crime. ... “It did have a little bit of a racial slur to it, but we’re not a racial community at all,” said the mayor, “and things like that are not at all reflective of our community.”