It’s not something Yaldaz Sadakova expected to see in her community, or anywhere in the country for that matter.

But there it was: a sticker with the words, “It’s okay to be white” — a seemingly innocuous message with a sinister purpose, as she later learned — posted in a park near her home.

The Whitby resident, who regularly goes for walks and runs in the park behind Bellwood Public School, said she first noticed the sticker about a week ago in two different locations in the area, including on a Town of Whitby sign. A quick Google search traced it to ties with white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups.

“I thought that was awful. First of all, how could it be that in our midst there might be somebody who is thinking these kinds of thoughts and posting these signs?” Sadakova said.

“The other thing is to put these kinds of racist signs right behind a school . . . some of the students might have already seen them.”

The slogan appears to have originated in 2017 on the online forum 4chan, where users suggested creating posters with the phrase as a way to elicit reactions and use the backlash to sway readers toward pro-white propaganda. Similar posters bearing the slogan have popped up in cities, and particularly college and university campuses, in Canada, the United States and around the world.

Sadakova is originally from Bulgaria and immigrated to Canada six years ago. She said her family is Muslim, but she doesn’t practise herself. She found the signs disturbing, especially in the wake of the recent mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand.

“It’s just trying to spread that propaganda of, ‘white people are under attack.’ I am technically white myself but I’m not Anglo-Saxon; I am a Canadian immigrant, so it just bothered me deeply to see these kinds of signs there,” she said.

“We talk so much about how Canada is so diverse and everybody is welcome and that these things don’t happen here, but guess what? We’re seeing these kinds of signs and you know, usually, bad things — they start with these little signs here and there.”

This Week contacted the Town of Whitby, which immediately sent bylaw officers to the park to locate and remove the stickers.

“I am very disappointed if signage of this nature has been posted anywhere in our community,” said Mayor Don Mitchell.

“Bylaw enforcement is now investigating these reports. If this type of signage is found, (Durham police) will be immediately notified. Discrimination or hate speech of any kind has no place in our community, and the Town of Whitby will not tolerate it.”

Durham Region police spokesperson Dave Selby said they have been notified of the stickers and several citizens have expressed their concerns.

“We would like to identify the person(s) responsible for placing these stickers in the community and would like to interview them,” he said. “Anyone with information can call Central West Division at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 1836 or use the Crime Stoppers program 1-800-222-TIPS to assist us.”

Sadakova said she’s happy the stickers are being taken down but most of all, wants residents to be mindful of these types of incidents when they occur.

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“Obviously they should remove them but then the Whitby residents are not aware that there is a person like that within this community spreading these kinds of racist messages,” she said.

“I feel like if these kinds of things are happening — if there’s even one person like that — people need to know about it.”