Birmingham community in shock over racist graffiti – “Islam = C***”
Categories: Latest News
Thursday May 03 2018
The community of Small Heath, Birmingham, was left distressed after racist and Islamophobic graffiti was discovered targeting the local Muslim community.
The graffiti was sprayed in Small Heath park off Waverly road and on a property located on Tennyson road, stating: “Islam = C**t”, “P**i” and “P*do”.
MEND’s Midlands Regional Manager, Mr Azhar Qayum, reported the incident to Birmingham City Council urging them to remove the vile slurs as soon as possible.
The MP for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Mr. Liam Byrne also quickly reached out to MEND to help resolve the matter.
A spokesperson for Birmingham City Council has responded to the incident, saying: “We deplore this sort of behaviour” and added “we always aim to remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours”.
You can find out how to request Birmingham City Council to remove graffiti for free by using the following link. If you wish to report graffiti located elsewhere then you can visit your respective councils website or ideally use the non-emergency number 101.
Mr Qayum has also said: “Placing this graffiti in public parks and outside schools and on main roads shows an intent to shock families and a complete disregard to the sensibilities of young children”.
He added: “I am thankful to the Council’s quick response in removing this graffiti, however we need to ensure the perpetrators are caught before they produce any more”.
The incident comes only a few weeks after a similar incident, also in Birmingham, where Islamophobic graffiti was spray-painted on a bus stop and a chip shop.
Bearded Broz, a grassroot Muslim community group, who reported the incident said at the time: “It’s a stone’s throw away from a school and you’re talking about a predominantly Muslim area…It’s horrifying”.