Racist former Coventry BNP candidate convicted of racially aggravated harassment

Mark Graham – pic from Coventry Telegraph

The following was sent to us by a local socialist following the news that Coventry racist and former BNP candidate Mark Graham was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court last week to 4 and a half years imprisonment for a campaign of race hate letters over a period of several years.

Letters were sent to high profile black, Asian and some white people including the mother of Stephen Lawrence and the Archbishop of York.

Over a period of 13 years Graham sent over 400 letters to more than 100 people.

Many letters were also sent to black workers in Coventry. The letters were the most vile, threatening and abusive letters imaginable oozing hate. The affect of these anonymous letters on local workers should not be underestimated.

I was line manager to two black workers who received letters at their work place for a period of years. I can personally testify to the blind hate that oozed from them.

It is of great credit to those workers that they were able to dismiss them as the work of an unbalanced racist and continue to attend work.

Anyone receiving these letters would be in fear of personal attack, as we saw with the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox where another racist was responsible.

In one instance Graham sent a letter containing talcum powder to a local gym owner claiming it was anthrax, causing the evacuation of an area of the city.

Graham, of Everdon Road in Holbrooks, had previously stood for the city council as a candidate for the racist British National Party.

Although like the killer of Jo Cox he undoubtedly has personal issues, he has also clearly been influenced by the racist propaganda of fascist organisations.

We must be clear. In our Two Tone city – the city of peace and reconciliation – there is no place for racism. Whilst Trump targets Muslims in the US we can expect racists to rear their heads here as well.

We must oppose Trump and also the likes of the BNP and EDL here who attempt to sow division. Black, White and Asian people are all suffering from the austerity and the widening gap in wealth.

Socialists fight for united action to defeat the racists and to create a socialist world where all have a decent life.