Bigotry shock on Fla. vacay.
Racist note in black family’s hotel room
An African-American millionaire and his Manhattan consultant son were victims of a July 4th hate crime in their hotel room during a Florida vacation.
A racist creep sneaked into Frank and son Michael Davis’ room at the upscale Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota and left a note reading, “You’re a N----R.”
After returning to their sixthfloor room from breakfast, Frank, his wife and their son found the sickening message placed on a globe-shaped bedside lamp.
“I was stone cold for 30 to 40 seconds when I read the note,” Michael, 27, a consultant for a financial firm, told The Post.
“My first thought was, what did we do to deserve this? We tipped well, we were beyond nice to all the staff.”
Fearing for their lives, Michael and his parents called the police and the front desk. The Sarasota Police Department responded, but no suspects have been named.
The incident was especially wounding in light of Frank’s lifelong efforts to promote diversity. The business executive has donated $5 million to his alma mater, Bucknell University, for a new building and for minority recruitment.
Frank, 58, co-founded Horizon Group after reaching the upper echelons of Fortune 500 companies. He took a broad view of the incident.
“It is critical that we all be champions for diversity and inclusion every day,” he said.
Management for the hotel, part of the Marriott chain, was far less responsive than the cops, Michael said.
While the hotel refunded all the Marriott points the family had used on their planned six-day visit, it refused to move them to a comparable location. The Davises left and checked into a hotel two hours away.
“The whole experience has been very awful and saddening. Despite our best efforts to be friendly, welcoming guests, someone chose to hate us simply for the color of our skin,” said Michael, whose Cuban-American mom is from New York City.
A Marriott vice president eventually called Michael to apologize.
A spokesperson for the hotel chain told The Post it was planning sensitivity training for the Sarasota site, saying, “The matter is being actively investigated and appropriate actions will be taken.”