After reports of widespread graffiti in east Windsor and Tecumseh, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies say it will be following up with the police.
The centre works to combat racism and antisemitism through advocacy and education.
Photo courtesy of Shaun Campbell
Over the past week, graffiti against Arabs, swastikas, and racially-charged messages have appeared on an SUV parked on Parent Avenue in Windsor, along the Little River Trail, in Tecumseh's Lacasse Park, on private property, behind businesses, and at A.V. Graham Public School.
At least two of the incidents, the spray-painted SUV and a vandalized garage on Bedell Street, are being investigated as hate crimes.
Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, told BlackburnNews.com all hateful graffiti is a concern.
"We've seen as a rising trend over the last number of years, specifically over the past two years, of these hate groups that are just feeling much more at liberty, if not emboldened, at expanding their work and identifying themselves as Nazis," he said.
Benlolo said the trend is worldwide and appears to have become more pronounced since the protests two years ago in Charlottesville where neo-nazis openly took to the streets.
While the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president may have coincided with the uptick, Benlolo said Trump can not be blamed solely for the increase in racist messaging.
"It's also happening in Europe with rising nationalism," he explained. "As the world distances itself from the tragedy of the Second World War, the Holocaust -- this generation is forgetting those important lessons."
A recent Statistics Canada report said police-reported hate crimes increased from 1,295 in 2014 to 1,798 last year. In Windsor, there were six.
However, Benlolo believes the actual number is much higher. He does not believe the numbers reflect reality.
"Oftentimes, things like swastikas will be coded in as mischief and not as hate," he said. "If they want to code them as mischief, okay, but also code them as a hate crime so that data is available."
The public has a role to play as well. Benlolo urged residents to report what they see to police.
"It's not only offensive to the Jewish community. It's offensive to all Canadians. We fought as a nation to liberate Europe from the Nazis," he said. "Therefore, it's up to all Canadians to stand up against this rising trend of white supremacism, and Nazism, and the forgetting of the past."
