It’s just three little words – but together the short, blunt sentence has sparked an investigation by Burnaby RCMP.
“Kill all Chinese” was found etched into the wall of a bathroom stall at Metrotown this week. The racist phrase was reported to Burnaby Mounties on Tuesday afternoon, almost 24 hours after it was posted to a website popular in the Chinese community, forum.iask.ca.
According to Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis, the racist graffiti has since been removed from the bathroom, but the investigation is just getting started.
“We take this very seriously,” he said. “We’re working with the mall security and also with the mall management.”
Jeanne Fike, of the Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table, said the graffiti came up at her group’s meeting Thursday morning, and everyone was shocked.
“Everyone around the table, there were more than 20 people there, and everybody was appalled,” she said. “It’s the work of our table to try to educate and do whatever we can to eradicate racism and inequality and this kind of appalling incident.”
Fike said she hopes this graffiti remark does not represent the majority of how Burnaby residents feel.
“Although there are systemic barriers to immigrants and refugees, big time, in our community,” she added. “And that’s what we’re trying to deal with, is a systemic change to eliminate barriers to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
The planning table organizes dialogues through community dinners, educational workshops and programs for all ages, in an effort to end racism.
“Given some of the facts about how we need immigrants, and so many come with incredible strength and experiences, we need to, as a community, eliminate the barriers,” Fike noted.
According to Buis, it’s unusual to find this type of graffiti written in such a secluded area.
“It’s not that it doesn’t typically happen, it’s just that it’s very confined and not a lot of people would have seen it,” he said.
Because the graffiti was written on a bathroom stall, which is essentially a private area, police have very few leads in their investigation.
“We don’t have any suspects. We don’t have any video because it’s in a women’s washroom, and nobody has come forward with any further information,” he told the NOW.
Anyone with information about the graffiti is asked to contact Burnaby RCMP at 604-294-7922.
