FLINT (WJRT) -
(12/12/11) - Fed up with crime, a Flint homeowner is fighting back. With words.
Eight words are spray painted, on a piece of plywood, covering the front window of a vacant home on N. Chevrolet near Berkley on Flint's north side.
One word intentionally used to send a strong message.
"This house is a reflection of ignorant n---as," read the black homeowner who made the sign.
The last word?
The N-word. The last two letters a-s, not e-r.
At her asking, we're not going to identify her.
She says the windows were ripped out by thieves so they could get at scrap metal. She says she had been fixing up the home to use it to help the homeless.
"They're hustling out here. It's a domino effect and yet we sit back and do nothing in the community," she said.
"I can understand just how frustrated the lady is. Somebody stole my pipes out of this house before I got here," said neighbor Ladale Woods.
The single mother of two, attending college and taking marketing classes, says her intent was to make a statement to those committing crime.
"Evidently I got my message across because you guys are here. Well done. I did what I was supposed to do."
"I know who I am. I know where I'm going so the word does not define me. Not at all."
The woman did spray paint over the word Monday because people were offended by it.
But she stands firm, fed up with crime in her city. Crime that this time hit too close to home.
Frances Gilcreast, Flint Branch NAACP president, called used of the word hurtful, adding ignorance comes in all colors.
