Brexit: Facebook page highlights racism after EU referendum vote triggers spike in hate crimes

Inundated: The Facebook page has been flooded with stories of xenophobic incidents in the wake of Brexit
Facebook
Jamie Bullen27 June 2016
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Critics have attempted to shut down a Facebook group which highlights racist encounters amid a spike in hate crimes after the EU referendum.

Sarah Childs, 32, set up the Worrying Signs page with two university friends to show highlight a surge in xenophobic incidents since Britain voted to quit the EU.

Since the group was set up yesterday it has amassed more than 7,500 members as users flood the page with stories of racist confrontations.

Stories include one man who said a “Go Home” message aimed at a Romanian pupil was scrawled on a toilet wall at his daughter’s school, and chants of “Make Britain white again” on London’s Portland Street.

Founder: Sarah Childs set up Worrying Signs to highlight a surge of racist encounters in the wake of Brexit
Sarah Childs

And while thousands of people have praised attempts to highlight the fears, others have left messages criticising the page and urging Facebook to ban it.

Ms Childs, a community enterprise consultant from Sheffield, said: “The idea of putting all the stories together was that it’s easy to dismiss one story, but when you have a few hundred all together they make a bigger impression.

“It’s harder to say, ‘oh, it’s just a minority of people it’s happening to, it’ll all blow over’.

“Maybe it is a minority. I don’t know, but I don’t think that’s the most important point here. This is an issue that is affecting a lot of people and we can’t allow it continue.”

“I’ve experienced some harassment from people who don’t like what we are doing, some people trying to get me banned from Facebook to interrupt what we’re doing.

“I have also received some messages from angry Leave voters who feel that I’m trying to paint them personally as a racist, but that isn’t what this campaign is about at all.

“This is a problem that arisen in the aftermath of the referendum but it’s not really about the referendum anymore.

“It’s not about Leave or Remain. We don’t think everyone who voted Leave is a racist. We just want to highlight a problem that needs to be addressed going forward.”

Ms Childs called on authorities to address the growing fears of hostility towards foreign residents.

She added: “While we have politicians, lawyers, and economists working on the legal and economic ramifications of leaving the EU and drawing up a plan for that, we don’t see anyone talking about a social plan.

“If we’re going to make this country a better place for all of us to live in we need to plan to heal our social divides as well, and to ensure that every person in our communities feels welcome and safe."

She added: "We currently have over 7,000 members in the group and more requesting to join every minute. This is a group that has only been in existence for 26 hours.

"Our initial goal was simply to draw attention to the rise in racist and xenophobic harassment and violence in the wake of the referendum.

“It’s clearly something that is resonating with a lot of people. Our hope is that it becomes big enough to more than just an awareness raising initiative but an actual spur to action and leadership on this matter.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged Londoners to "stand guard" against hate crime following Britain's decision to withdraw from the European Union.

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