Material distributed by far-right group Generation Identity (GI) has been found on the city campus of the University of Wolverhampton.
In November this year anti-racism campaigners handed out around 1,000 leaflets at the Wolverhampton campus after GI stickers were found close to the university.
The far-right group had posted stickers carrying its logo along with the phrase ‘stop the great replacement’, a reference to its members’ belief that white people are ‘under threat’ of becoming a minority in the city.
The organisation is part of an ‘identitarian’ anti-immigration movement campaigning to halt ‘the great replacement’ of the white English population by other ethnic groups.
Despite the resulting leaflet campaign organised by members of the university’s Stand Up To Racism group Generation Identity has since returned to the city.
And as well as leaving more stickers, members of GI’s West Midlands group also placed posters of late Wolverhampton MP Enoch Powell within the university’s city campus, and on local landmarks including the Prince Albert statue in Queens Square.
MP Powell, who represented the area of the city where the university stands, is infamous for his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in which he strongly criticised mass immigration.
The posters left by GI bore the slogan ‘#ENOCHWASRIGHT’.
On December 2 the West Midlands branch also tweeted its activists had met in Wolverhampton to “discuss how to engage with the student demographic”.
The tweet stated: “Universities were once bastions of free thought and critical thinking, now students are taught to…reject European culture and civilisation.”
The University of Wolverhampton has a diverse student body.
Just over 56% of students are white and there is a large and diverse black and Asian cohort.
Members of the university Stand Up To Racism group voiced their concerns to Black Country News:
“Our university has a considerable number of black and ethnic minority students so it’s plainly clear they are being targeted,” said student Joe Moreton.
Kieran Bott said: “We believe it’s their youth wing. They are trying to have an impact and are trying to create a presence among students here and all over the country.”
Anti-racism campaigner and Wolverhampton resident Carol Gregory added: “I was horrified really because I’m quite proud that we’re a multicultural city.”
In response to the sticker campaign, a spokesperson for the University of Wolverhampton said:
The university does not tolerate racism or extremism of any kind.
We are proud to be a multi-cultural institution with a huge mix of staff and students of all races, faiths and backgrounds which is very much reflective of the communities we serve.
Lynn Butler 