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Citizens step forward so society doesn't go backward

If there's any good news in a vicious case of vandalism, it's the outrage and the swift reaction.

By SUE CARLTON
Published December 8, 2005

You want to believe that the world has moved forward, that there are things you learned about in American history class that you can take completely for granted, like women voting, or black kids and white kids going to school together.

You think some of the worst battles have been fought and won, done and finished, with only the occasional incident to remind you how bad things used to be.

We just got a particularly ugly reminder. It came on a suburban street in a racially mixed, middle-class neighborhood of neat lawns and stucco homes just outside Tampa.

A 36-year-old black woman walked into her brand new home in Riverview - her first house ever - to find it vandalized, though "vandalized" is too clean a word for what happened in that house.

Whoever broke into the home on Tribute Drive in the Covewood subdivision punched holes in the white walls and spray painted them with racial slurs, ripped stuffing from pillows and mattresses, and poured bleach across the floors.

They turned on all the faucets so water soaked through the new beige carpet. They gouged the letters "KKK" into wooden furniture.

And it wasn't the first time. The house had been vandalized, though not as badly, a month earlier when it was still under construction.

The homeowner, mother of a 12-year-old girl, was sick when she saw what they did, and who wouldn't be? Imagine how it would feel to try to take in that kind of viciousness in your home, to have a stranger aim that meanness at you, apparently for no other reason than the shade of your skin.

If there's any good news in this, it's the outrage and the swift reaction.

Strangers and new neighbors alike have taken up collections and offered donations. A home builder appears intent on fixing the damage before Christmas, and a furniture company has agreed to help.

St. Petersburg real estate agent Bill Allard read in the paper about what happened and is trying to raise a $25,000 reward, putting up $1,000 himself. (Allard is a smart man; he believes whoever did this probably bragged about it. A fat reward might whip up some enthusiasm for sharing that information with the authorities.)

As of this week, the kitty held $3,200 - which isn't $25,000, but it's not chump change, either.

Even the Hillsborough County Commission has gotten involved. At its meeting this week, the board got an update on the case, and Commissioner Ronda Storms told fellow board members she had been out to visit the woman at her home. Then the commission voted to do something small, but kind of nice.

Assuming the woman agrees, county workers will remove the damaged furniture, have it repaired and see that it's given it to a needy family. That would be good coming from bad. Maybe commissioners were tired of their own reputation for intolerance on other issues, but whatever. They did okay that day.

Hillsborough sheriff's Capt. John Marsicano told the commission that deputies have handed out hundreds of fliers and "knocked on every door." The FBI is also in on the investigation, which has been classified as a hate crime - all signs that what happened on Tribute Drive is being taken as seriously as it should.

When deputies ultimately make an arrest, I'm guessing the bad guys won't turn out to be some organized band of cross-burning marauders. And who knows what their true motivation will have been - hard-core racism, boredom, meanness, incredible stupidity? I'm not sure any answer will make us feel any better.

But I hope it happens soon. And I hope what came after the vandalism might help the woman who lives on Tribute Drive to know that in some corners, the world really has changed.

Anyone with information can call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-873-TIPS (8477).

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 20:06:00]