Thugs in racist graffiti attack at Govanhill Baths
A COMMUNITY hub uniting different nationalities has been targeted by racists.
Thugs have scrawled racist graffiti on Govanhill Baths – for a second time.
As well as vile comments outside the Calder Street building, staff said racist writing has appeared on phone booths in the area.
Words include “Britain First”, “Migrants Out”, “Migrants Must Go” and “Slovaks Out”.
Another reads: “Migrant ass kissers get tae f**k”.
Bosses at Govanhill Baths link the racist attacks to the launch of the Govanhill Against Racism event, which is being held later this month.
Jim Monaghan, administrator at the Baths, said: “I believe the recent spate of graffiti is a kick back against our plans for the Govanhill Against Racism event.
“Since we announced Govanhill Against Racism there has been nothing but trouble.
“It seems like anyone who tries to make a difference in the area is targeted.”
Govanhill Baths Community Trust is organising the Govanhill International Carnival, which involves Govanhill Against Racism and a two day music festival that will involve a speech from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Since announcing the event, racists have twice scrawled graffiti on a banner at the front of the building.
A telephone box on Cathcart Road has had the words “Slovaks Out” written on it while a phone box outside the Baths has “Britain First” scrawled on it.
Jim added: “Britain First – the man who killed Jo Cox shouted that.
“We might not have Alf Garnett in our living rooms any more but people need to know racism isn’t a thing of the past.
“We are very wary. We had a spate of it before that fizzled out on its own.
“We have staff we need to protect, we have customers we need to protect. We are reporting every incident to the police.
“There are people out there who are casually racist and people who are violent. If something tragic happened and we hadn’t done anything then you would feel responsible.”
Govanhill is home to a large mix of different nationalities, including a Roma population.
The Baths has previously been targeted by racists but bosses are determined to go ahead with their festival. A carnival is to be held on Saturday, August 26, and will start with a parade through Govanhill at 1pm from Govanhill Park to Queen’s Park.
In Queen’s Park there will be bands and family entertainment at the Bandstand until 5pm.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will attend on the Saturday, while Mr Corbyn will speak from the Queen’s Park Bandstand stage on Sunday.
Sunday, August 27, will see Roots Rock Reggae Against Racism, while August 28 will be Rock Against Racism to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Rock Against Racism movement.
Jim said: “It can be scary, although we have faced it before.
“We have all different nationalities using the Baths so it’s unpleasant for us to have people walking in here past [the graffiti].
“We have a lot of immigrants here so we never know who it’s targeted at but a lot of the racism in the area is targeted at the Roma community and we have Roma group Romano Lav using the centre as well.
“This won’t stop us. It only makes us more determined to hold our event and make it a success in order to stand against this.”