People of color in Scotland were outraged on Tuesday when reports emerged of neo-Nazi signs being spread across the northern city of Perth.

Local politicians have come out forcefully against the signs, but local BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) residents have expressed fear about potential violence directed toward them.

This is atrocious and has no place in Perth or any other part of our country. We must stand together to resist this unacceptable material. https://t.co/TjRBNycKJ2

— John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) December 17, 2019

Originally promoted by white supremacists on the message board 4chan in 2017, the posters, which say "It's Okay To Be White," were seen plastered across the city center. Earlier this year, the signs were also spread across the Scottish city of Dundee.

According to Newsweek, users on the 4chan board /pol/ have rejoiced about the situation in Perth. One person wrote, "I go to uni in Perth, this is funny. Pretty sure one of my lecturers hated muzzos as well."

According to the Daily Record, a woman said she now fears for her safety due to the spread of the fliers and the discussion online supporting them.

"[I] was born and brought up in Perth and I am not white, but certainly felt this is my home city. But to know people have that attitude is terrifying," the woman said.

“This has made me feel unsafe for all people who are not white — I am certainly worried now for my daughters, who are not white but are from Perth. It’s sickening and disgusting to know that people think like this. [I am] feeling very, very unsafe right now, [I] don’t think it’s safe anywhere now,” she added.

Perth MP Pete Wishart told the newspaper he was “disgusted to see that someone has put up these posters in Perth city center."

“The people of Perth will want nothing to do with these individuals and I would encourage anyone who has any information about these posters to speak to Police Scotland,” Wishart said.

Police in Perth told BBC that they were looking into the posters.

"Although no complaint has been made to police regarding these posters, they have been brought to our attention and officers are currently looking into the matter," a Scotland police spokeswoman told BBC.

The slogan has a long history in white supremacy groups and neo-Nazi organizations but has taken on a new life through message boards like 4chan and 8chan.

"While far from the most common white supremacist slogan, it was in use enough that white power music band Aggressive Force even used the phrase as the title of one of its songs—a song that dates back at least to 2001, if not earlier," the Anti-Defamation League said in a 2017 blog post.

"ADL has tracked white supremacist fliers featuring the phrase “It’s okay to be white” as long ago as 2005. In 2012, a member of Ku Klux Klan group United Klans of America actually even used the hashtag #IOTBW on Twitter," the group added.

#ItsOkayToBeWhite campaign is organized by neo-Nazis. See what they are saying in their own chat rooms about it; it's all a smoke screen for their broader agenda and more violence. pic.twitter.com/hVuaJ4NNqv

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) November 13, 2017

The white supremacist campaign has repeatedly gained new life thanks to Fox News host Tucker Carlson who has turned the phrase into a rallying cry.

The posters are now very common in towns across America and continue to become more popular worldwide as the message spreads.

Perth-Scotland

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