El Mirage family wakes up to spray painted racial slurs on home, neighborhood comes together to help

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - UPDATE: Fox 10 Phoenix went back out to Tishonda White's home in El Mirage where neighbors gathered together to help the White family.

Melissa Arrellin, a neighbor, reached out to a police sergeant who donated paint, and she contacted the neighborhood watch group.

Soon after, the front of the White family's home was packed with neighbors helping clean off the graffiti and paint over the hurtful words. Some people also brought pizza and water bottles.

All proving that no matter your race, ethnicity, religion or background, sticking together is what's important, especially for a neighbor in need.

By the evening, the house was spray paint free.

A valley family devastated after their home was vandalized in the middle of the night.

Racial slurs spray-painted across their door, garage and sides of their home, and now they're hoping to bring whoever is responsible to justice.

"This is embarrassing, it's hurtful, it's degrading, it's just totally disrespectful," said Tishonda White.

Those were the only thoughts and feelings White could muster up after seeing the cutting racist words spray-painted across her family's home.

"It's 2017 and you're still resulting to the N-word? You're telling us to leave? You're calling us monkeys?" said White.

A neighbor alerted White and her husband of the vandalism early this morning.

Shocked and confused, she doesn't know why her family was targeted, especially in such a diverse neighborhood.

"We are not the only African American group of people over here, so why us? We get along with everyone, we don't have any problems with any neighbors," said White.

For anyone who says, 'It's probably just some punks, or kids who don't know the weight of their words,' White has a reply.

"I don't care how old you are. This is disrespectful. It should not be done in no form or fashion. This is wrong, this is wrong on all measures, this is wrong," said White.

White says she hasn't found a neighbor with cameras yet, making the investigation that much harder. And even though she doesn't want to be intimidated by the vandalism, she says her family won't stay.

"If it was just my husband and I, I would fight, but I got a 4-year-old, a  7-year-old, and 16-year-old. I'm going to leave. I'm not going to stay here. I'm not going to subject them to this kind of abuse," said White.

The family added they believe someone cut the power to their house the night before, by disconnecting the fuse box.

If you know anything about this incident, you're asked to call police immediately.