unwelcome sight during walk on Downs

[landsurfer]

Remove ink get shot

Get rid of the colour, dispose of or reject them .............

On a web site far away ..................

[bovlomov]

Here's a thing. Al's '... remainers are all...' is a generalisation, of the type that I didn't make about Brexiters.

[reohn2]

Here's a thing. Al's '... remainers are all...' is a generalisation, of the type that I didn't make about Brexiters.

But you're forgetting Al knows it all,and you can't tell anyone anything who knows it all,irrespective of facts
The more I read the thoughts of Brexit supporters the more I like me dog

[bovlomov]

'REMOVE INK GET SHOT SAVVY WHITE POWER' might mean
Do not erase this message. I am a powerful white person sitting in a nearby tree, and am in possession of an air pistol. Do you understand?

[al_yrpal]

Here's a thing. Al's '... remainers are all...' is a generalisation, of the type that I didn't make about Brexiters.

Sorry about that but I have just got into the mindset of all those Remainers who keep asserting we Leavers are all thick uninformed racists. I think I would rather be described as naive.

Al

[Spinners]

So: what should we do? Report it?

Don't bother reporting it (very little chance of catching the vile twerps so a waste of police time).

Just take it down (you did take it down, didn't you?).

Don't spread it on the internet.

[661-Pete]

Just take it down (you did take it down, didn't you?).

No. This was not a piece of cardboard, it was a metal plaque. Screwed down and I didn't have a screwdriver: nor did I have anything to clean off the ink. Anyway, the plaque is National Trust property: on the other side is a notice about sheep grazing.

I didn't take very seriously the threat that the perp might be lurking behind a tree with an airgun (or worse). But it's a threat all the same.

Don't spread it on the internet.

Good point. But this forum is not exactly FB or Tw*tter, I doubt if the sort of idiots who might copy this behaviour, regularly visit here. Perhaps I should change the title to defeat google searches.

[windmiller]

Today we were enjoying a leisurely stroll on Wolstonbury Hill, on the South Downs: a place we often visit, to admire the flowers, the butterflies and the view. Very quiet: not many other walkers about.

Then we come across this.
Racist graffiti 01.jpg
This is on a stile right out in the countryside - away from any roads.

Rather upsetting.

Yes it could be argued, it's only kids fooling around, but it's clearly copycat behaviour, inspired by recent events across the world. And if kids think they can do this and get away with it, won't adults too? Where will it stop?

So: what should we do? Report it?

My interpretations of this unsavoury graffiti are that is has been written by a silly ignorant juvenile, or more
worryingly by a person pertaining to be one, as in running with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

Graffiti is usually displayed in places for maximum publicity, urban walls /bridges etc, not beauty spots with SSSI certification.

Whoever wrote it appears to have no artistic talent and has no previous career as a graffiti artist.

The swastika is all wrong backwards even, I would think most serious nazi types would get that part correct.

Difficult to imagine hard core racist types flocking to ogle it as a masterpiece of far right propaganda.

It looks like it has been scribbled at 100mph, why? Surely this is quite an isolated spot most of the time.

Fake or genuine I would report it to the Police.

[pwa]

Today we were enjoying a leisurely stroll on Wolstonbury Hill, on the South Downs: a place we often visit, to admire the flowers, the butterflies and the view. Very quiet: not many other walkers about.

Then we come across this.
Racist graffiti 01.jpg
This is on a stile right out in the countryside - away from any roads.

Rather upsetting.

Yes it could be argued, it's only kids fooling around, but it's clearly copycat behaviour, inspired by recent events across the world. And if kids think they can do this and get away with it, won't adults too? Where will it stop?

So: what should we do? Report it?

[edit] title changed to deter search engines. Not sure if this will have any effect.

I would resist the temptation to destroy that, and I'd report it. It is a crime and almost certainly not the only piece of graffiti from the offender. The police need to come and file it as evidence.

[Spinners]

Just take it down (you did take it down, didn't you?).

No. This was not a piece of cardboard, it was a metal plaque. Screwed down and I didn't have a screwdriver: nor did I have anything to clean off the ink. Anyway, the plaque is National Trust property: on the other side is a notice about sheep grazing.

Ah. OK. My tired eyes thought it was pinned up. Change of mind by me - definitely report it.

[Vorpal]

The far right are nowhere in the UK.

BBC News - Europe and right-wing nationalism: A country-by-country guide
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36130006

Al

The UK was not included in that article.

The far right are on the rise globally, including the UK https://www.ft.com/content/6abda90e-70b ... eb837566c5

[Vorpal]

Rather upsetting.

So: what should we do? Report it?

I suspect that it was targeted at an individual, or a small group of people. Perhaps someone who has quit a neo-nazi group?

'Remove the ink' is likely to refer to tattoos.

I would definitely report it to police. Not only have they defaced National Trust property, but the person or people targeted by the sign may be in danger.

[Ben@Forest]

On the other hand, my feeling is that if we had voted Remain, there would not have been so much of a resurgence in these European extremist groups since 2016.

I don't see that the two can be correlated. Firstly the nationalist right have been present in many European countries for a long time, so much so that Jean Marie Le Pen received nearly 20% of the vote in the 2002 presidential election. The socialists, whose candidate had been knocked out, advised their voters to 'hold their noses and vote for Chirac'.

Secondly, today the Telegraph reports the huge increase in anti-Semitic attacks in France and the number of Jewish children not going to mainstream schools for safety reasons. I'm not putting in a link because it has a paywall, but the article highlights not only right-wing sentiment but also Islamic fundamentalism - and nobody can seriously link that to a British referendum in 2016.

[bovlomov]

I suspect that it was targeted at an individual, or a small group of people. Perhaps someone who has quit a neo-nazi group?

'Remove the ink' is likely to refer to tattoos.

I would definitely report it to police. Not only have they defaced National Trust property, but the person or people targeted by the sign may be in danger.

That's a more sinister interpretation (the death threat, not the defacing of NT property), but it does make sense.

[bovlomov]

On the other hand, my feeling is that if we had voted Remain, there would not have been so much of a resurgence in these European extremist groups since 2016.

I don't see that the two can be correlated.

I think it is a complicated story and it's difficult to untangle all the causes and all the effects. In no particular order:
- There were racist threads running through the referendum campaign.
- Extremists campaigning for Brexit here have close contacts with extremists throughout the continent.
- Extremists have been emboldened by the referendum.
- There are rising nationalist movements across the globe that have nothing to do with Brexit.
- We still haven't got to the bottom of Russia's involvement with Brexit. Russia has been close to some of Europe's nationalist leaders.
- Brexit isn't, in itself, a racist project.
- Even if the style of some Brexit campaigning has pushed a few more to the extremes, it doesn't mean the population as a whole has moved. Social media and graffiti, hopefully, aren't representative.