Posted on 04/01/2007 2:48:49 AM PDT by leadpenny
Black church in Stafford County vandalized and spray-painted with racial slurs
By CATHY DYSON
A cable installer had come to Union Bell Baptist Church yesterday morning to hook up wireless computer service, when he and a church deacon noticed the vandalism.
Someone had spray-painted the F- and N-words on doors and parking signs at the black church in southern Stafford County.
"We've come so far in terms of technology, and then you look at stuff like this and you realize our culture hasn't progressed that much," said Darak Hollis, a field representative for Cox Communications. "It's sad, especially in a place like this."
As Hollis worked, the pastor and deacons cleaned up the mess at the 85-year-old brick church.
The phrase "F--- N----- ALOT" was painted in black letters on a back door and on a side entrance that leads to the pastor's study.
The N-word also was sprayed on two parking signs and a septic-system cover.
Four windows were broken and their blinds smashed. A telephone box was ripped apart.
Nothing was taken from inside the church, as far as members could tell. They estimated the repairs would cost about $500.
"But the money part is not what's bothering us. It's the spiritual part," said Deacon Joseph Robinson, who first noticed the damage.
"What would make somebody do this, especially to the church?" wondered the pastor, the Rev. Clarence Mays, as he shook his head in dismay. "Especially to the church."
Mays and his wife, Regina, were at the church on Hollywood Farm Road in the White Oak area for about half an hour last night.
They came by before midnight to pray for unity among members. The church is looking to buy 10 acres nearby and expand its ministry, and some members are concerned about the additional debt, the pastor said.
He and his wife left about 12:15 a.m. Robinson got there before 9 a.m. to meet the cable installer.
Stafford sheriff's Deputy M.K. Stotts, who investigated the scene, said there were several reports of vandalized cars overnight.
"But nothing this extreme," he said.
The vandalism is a felony because it's on church property, Stotts said.
Similar hate crimes have been reported this month from Connecticut to California, according to press accounts.
"Fortunately, there have not been a lot in this area," said the Rev. Lawrence Davies, a minister in Fredericksburg and the city's first black mayor. "I don't remember the last time something like this happened."
Union Bell members tried to keep their spirits up as they got ready for Palm Sunday. Had the cable work not been scheduled yesterday, they wouldn't have noticed the damage until this morning.
"And that would have been a rude awakening," said Deacon Derrick Johnson.
The pastor was glad the damage wasn't worse. As he thought about his midnight prayer service, he recalled that he and his wife anointed the church with oil.
"That's why they didn't come in," the pastor said about the vandals. "The spirit of God was so strong, they couldn't go inside."
To that, Deacon Johnson added: "Pastor, next time you gotta do the outside, too."
Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425 Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call the Stafford County Sheriff's Office at 658-4450 or Crime Solvers at 659-2020.
Whoever did it should be severely punished.
Are they sure these aren't rap lyrics?
Or as the immortal Lenny Briscoe put it, "A cheating husband, a dead wife, that's enough for me."
You don't need a smoking gun to come to the *most likely* conclusion when the facts fit a pattern.
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