A friend of the Etobicoke-North council candidate alerted her on Saturday to the vandalism of a sign posted in the Martin Grove and Dixon Rds. area. The message, “go back home” was scrawled in red marker at the top of the sign; over top of the candidate’s name, was the word, “B----.”
“It was frustration and shock that I had to be reading the language on it,” said the 22-year-old Somali-Canadian. “My parents took it a lot worse. They experienced a lot of racism when they first came to Canada and to live vicariously through that again through their children isn’t the easiest experience.”
Abukar and her parents decided to take the sign home instead of leaving it up, because they didn’t want other people to see it to be “triggered” and get upset by seeing it.
She doesn’t believe “Ford Nation” -- despite the sign being in the heart of it -- is to blame.
“I’d like to believe there’s good in everybody,” she said. “That, yes, the Fords do have some explaining to do for racist things that have happened in the past, but the reality is I choose not to speculate who it is.”
Akubar tweeted about the incident on Saturday.
“When people tell me to ‘go back home’ I’m always like oh you mean back to my crib in Etobicoke? Miss me with that racist/xenophobic speak,” Abukar tweeted after posting pictures of the sign.
Abukar is planning to file a police report about this incident.
Mayoral candidate Olivia Chow said she empathizes with Abukar being told to “go home” as a heckler at a recent debate to her to “go back to China.”
“It’s disgraceful,” she said. “There’s no room for racism in this city. I hope she stays strong.”
Chow said she asked her staff for examples of online comments that have been written about her containing racial slurs.
“‘Poor baby, if you can’t stand a little criticism, then get the f--- out of the race, go make some rice’ and ‘F--- you, ch---.’ This is all recent,” she said.
Doug Ford – the current councillor for Ward 2 – called the graffiti “disgusting.”
“I’d like to find the person, charge them. They should be thrown in jail,” the mayoral candidate told the Sun after being shown the photos.
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