Anger over racist messages posted around university campus
A series of racist messages have been spotted on the University of Sydney campus, sparking outrage online.
Images of two markings, one on a sign attached to a railing and one in a bathroom, were uploaded to Facebook group Newtown 2042, both reading “Asian Invasion”.
“Stop the Asian Invasion,” graffiti on the sign read. The marking was accompanied by a racist drawing of a face.
“This is racist, this is unfair. Seeing an Asian-Australian woman reading this broke my heart. This is not what Australia should be. I hope this sign is removed,” the person who uploaded the image wrote.
The posts were met with fury online, with students, university staff and residents of the local area voicing their concerns.
“I really thought we had moved on from that ignorant and racist attitude,” one user wrote.
“Freedom of speech is not the same as hate speech and they need to be held accountable,” another suggested.
“Horrible ppl (sic) who thought it was OK to write it,” another user said.
The second image shows a toilet roll dispenser in a women’s bathroom. The photo is believed to have been taken at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital next to the university with the same message, albeit misspelt.
One student responded with their own marking, calling the perpetrator a “racist bitch”.
A University of Sydney spokesperson told Yahoo7 News they believe the graffiti to be an isolated incident and appropriate action would be taken against anyone found leaving racist messages across the university.
“Any graffiti or posters placed around campus of a racist nature are immediately removed,” the spokesperson said.
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“We believe this is an isolated incident, if anyone is aware of inappropriate graffiti they should contact campus security to have it removed.
“The University has codes of conduct and any student, staff or affiliate who breaches an applicable code of conduct may be subject to action and the matter if appropriate may be referred to the police.
The spokesperson also noted their campus is open to the public and those responsible may not be connected to the university.
“We do not believe this is a systemic problem but from time to time our campuses, which are accessible to the general public, are subject to the kinds of antisocial behaviour that are sadly evident across the community.”
