Months after racist graffiti was splattered across Sydney’s Inner West, the local council and community have responded with a signpost declaring that “racism is not welcome”.
A 21-year-old man was charged with 53 offences for spraypainting offensive messages and swastikas on buildings and political posters in Newtown and Erksineville from April 22.
Police allege he was painting over inclusion and diversity welcome signs at Wattle and Bee on Crystal Street in Petersham on May 18 when he was nabbed by a passing officer.
Wattle and Bee owner Felicity Moody said her LGBTIQ+, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander welcome flags on her store’s front door had been targeted three times.
“It was not just your regular graffiti. It was very deliberate,” she said.
“It turns out that I was not the only business targeted.”
The nearby Metropolitan Community Church, which also has inclusionary posters and messages, was also one of many buildings graffitied. 
Moody said she felt “threatened and intimidated” but did not let the vandalism deter her from inclusive messaging.
“I am a small business owner, I’m a female. I often have to do things by myself, so it’s not nice to feel threatened like that,” she said.
“You feel quite isolated and intimidated when things like that happen.”
Moody has inquired about CCTV outside her business and has spoken with Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne and Councillor Chloe Smith about solutions to make the community feel safer.
One of the options the pair presented was a “racism is not welcome” signpost.
The Inner West Council has provided funding for 40 signposts around the area to “start conversations, encourage collective action and make it clear that racism, injustice and bigotry are not tolerated in the Inner West and subsequently throughout Australia”.
“The signs are intended to allow difficult conversations and strengthen a sense of community,” the council says on its website. 
The signs have an anti-graffiti film to allow any vandalism to be easily wiped off.
A council meeting last week supported a “racism is not welcome” signpost to go up on the corner of Crystal and Brighton streets. 
Smith said this was a “simple but prominent message that racism, bigotry, and hate will never be accepted in our community”. 
Moody said that while the sign was not enforceable, it was the community’s response to hateful messages.
“In the same way that this person was trying to cover up my signs as to try and make their point, I guess it’s a way of our community to make a point,” she said.
“Hopefully the sign will reinforce to a community that was affected that they are safe here.”
9news.com.au has contacted council for further comment. 
The signs are part of the council’s wider anti-racism strategy, which was implemented in February to combat racism and recent antisemitic attacks.
“Councils have a vital role in bringing diverse communities together, building links between people of different backgrounds, and taking a stand against racism in all its forms,” Byrne said at the time.
“The Inner West is the birthplace of Australian multiculturalism so to see the increase in antisemitic vandalism and attacks in our community in recent months has been shocking.
“We know that there has been a marked increase in other forms of racism in recent years in our neighbourhoods too.”
