Too bad if you showed up at 11:07 a.m. today to help the Al-Farooq Islamic Center on Nolensville Road remove the hostile graffiti that someone spray-painted there earlier this week. All it took was five minutes, a bucket of paint and some household supplies to remove all visible evidence of the attack — except for the news crews and many volunteers milling about on the sidewalk outside. Some 75 people showed up by 11 a.m. to help the mosque's congregation repair the damage done to the building — most gallingly, the words "MUSLIMS GO HOME" spray-scrawled across the side facing the street. The clean-up went so quickly, though, that a pair of Vanderbilt Divinity students were overheard apologizing to Al-Farooq members for not arriving earlier. The assembled group included representatives of the Jewish Federation of Nashville, pastors from several Christian churches and students from Trevecca and Belmont. There was no shortage of willing hands: cars and SUVs continued to pull into the mosque's parking lot even as Al-Farooq worshippers were moving their tables and supplies back inside. But even though the building's exterior is now a gleaming white, it remains to be seen whether the stain of the crime will fade so quickly.
