Hamilton dentist welcomes community's 'zero-tolerance' stance after racist graffiti sprayed on office

CBC

4 days ago

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It seems hate has no fixed address in Hamilton — it recently surfaced on Main Street East, where Sagewood Dental Care, a family-focused practice led by Dr. Brian Yim, was defaced with white supremacist graffiti.
"When we returned from the long weekend, the Canada Day long weekend, we saw the graffiti on the building, on the signage and on our glass railing," Yim recounted recently to CBC Hamilton.
Initially, he and his team were unsure of its meaning, but that quickly changed.
"A couple of our patients pointed it out, unfortunately, and then we realized the implications of the graffiti and what that could mean to us."
As a "multinational office," Yim said, he immediately began to worry about the safety of his staff.
"All of these things start kind of playing out in your mind of the implications on my responsibility to protect my staff and my team."
The graffiti featured numerals that refer to a white nationalist slogan and code that glorifies late Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, the second instance reported to CBC News that occurred in Hamilton that weekend.
It highlights a growing concern among community members, and has prompted an assistant professor in the department of religious studies at McMaster University to call for more education and support for organizations that work to eliminate racist ideology and hate.
Jeremy Cohen told CBC Hamilton that he's been observing instances of people trying to propagate racist graffiti and white supremacist ideology, especially in Hamilton's Ward 3.
"About a week and a half ago, I was going to a dentist appointment, and as I was coming up to the building I noticed the ... graffiti in black bold letters on their white sign," Cohen said.
"It's been very upsetting. Ward 3 is a working-class community, but it is such a diverse community. There are people from all over the world here.
"I think that it is trying to create a very unwelcoming message. It is trying to tell people that certain people do not belong in this city and that is really unfortunate," added Cohen.
Hamilton, like many cities in Canada, clearly has a hate issue. - Jeremy Cohen, McMaster University department of religious studies
"Hamilton, like many cities in Canada, clearly has a hate issue [and] a problem with these individuals and groups organizing in this city, and it is very upsetting to know that there are people in our city who feel this way."
Ongoing investigation of 'hate-related graffiti'
Earlier in July, CBC Hamilton reported about a caterer and community advocate — Reena Rampersad — who found a racial slur scribbled across the front door of her home.
Her storefront window was also defaced with numerals that represent white supremacist sentiments sprayed over a poster for an upcoming Caribbean cultural event.
Rampersad said the vandalism was a targeted act of hate meant to intimidate her.
Last week, city police told CBC Hamilton they continue to investigate the "hate-related graffiti" incident at Rampersad's home and place of business.
"Sagewood Dental was also a victim to this hate-motivated crime and is involved in an investigation," a police spokesperson, Trevor McKenna, said in an email.
In a July 3 news release, the police service said it was working to identify those responsible, adding that a canvass for video surveillance in the area is ongoing.
"We recognize that hate has no place in our city, and we are committed to ensuring all residents feel safe and respected in their homes and places of business," it said.
While such hate is deeply concerning, Yim also emphasized the strong community response.
"I really am impressed with just the community and how there's a zero tolerance for this kind of thing in our neighbourhood," he said, noting the immediate priority was the removal of the graffiti to avoid perpetuating any hate.
"In the end, we haven't really had any altercations ... we've never been confronted by anybody, so we still feel quite safe."
Cohen said the graffiti with the numerals is not the only white supremacist slogan or recruitment attempt he's noticed in the area.
"For the past several years, posters have been showing up in Ward 3 on telephone poles. A lot of these have been very explicitly white supremacist and trying to recruit individuals.
"The posters are often making references to conspiracy theories like the great replacement theory and talking a lot about white identity."
Cohen said he's torn down as many of the posters as he could.
Ward 3 Coun. Nrinder Nann said there's been "emboldened graffiti activity" in and across her ward, but also into the downtown core.
"It's totally unacceptable and concerning to see the increase in activity. It's also my understanding that a lot of these tags showed up around Canada Day, if not on Canada Day, which is even more concerning that people are … connecting the dots between Canadian nationalism and white nationalism."
Nann said Hamilton has had "an unfortunate reputation of being a hate incident capital of Canada" and local authorities have been "working aggressively" to speak out every time this kind of incident takes place.
Tracking white nationalist 'active clubs'
"We have a lot of work to do in terms of better respecting different cultures and backgrounds," Nadine Ubl, executive director of Barton Village BIA, said in an interview, calling the graffiti "concerning."
"It's sad to think that this is something that we even have to be concerned about."
Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath urges residents who discover hate in their neighbourhoods to report it.
Her message came after the CBC visual investigation unit found members of white supremacist groups have been preparing for a "race war" in Hamilton-area gyms and parks.
Police said they are aware of these groups and "continue to monitor their activities," but "there have been no criminal offences reported to Hamilton police related to these clubs."
Anti-racism advocates and researchers said more needs to be done to combat hate. That may include the creation of a hate-crimes task force or a strategic program to address the underlying causes of hate groups.