Community members in York have come together in support of the Dragon House Chinese takeaway in York after it was sprayed with racist graffiti. Sadly, this is just one example among an outbreak of similar incidents of vandalism across the country.

York community rallies round Chinese takeaway after racist graffiti https://t.co/dNDPc8NHnd

— The Press (@yorkpress) September 1, 2025

‘Not just paint on a wall’ at Dragon House

The owners of the Dragon House takeaway posted on social media:

This is not just paint on the wall – it is blatant discrimination, and it hurts deeply….

We work hard every day to serve our customers with love and dedication.

I believe our community is stronger than hate, and I hope everyone will stand together against this kind of behaviour.

The incident itself occurred between 1:05 and 1:15am on Friday 29 August. CCTV captured video of three individuals on the scene. The messages they painted included “go home”, “England”, and crude St George’s crosses. The graffiti also included the words “cat n dog” (sic), echoing common racist rumors about pet meat being served in Chinese takeaways.

However, locals were quick to help with cleaning off the graffiti. Isaac Davidson, of window-cleaning business Crystal Clean, said:

I saw the owner and she was absolutely in bits.

It was awful to see, it was heartbreaking. I said to her, I’ll come back after my shift and I’ll get rid of it for you.

I went to work and I came back and that was that.

‘It doesn’t represent us’

Ward councillor for Westfield Andrew Waller told the York Press:

The community has rallied round to give the shop tremendous support … [The graffiti] is not reflective of the Foxwood area.

People have shown the real community support that exists.

One group that got involved with the cleanup of Dragon House was York Flaggers and Litter-Pickers. The group describes itself as “Restoring pride and community duty in York through flying the flag”. This included putting up Union flags, St. George’s crosses and the Yorkshire rose around the city. This was likely as part of Operation Raise The Colours.

A representative of York Flaggers and Litter-Pickers stated that:

It doesn’t represent us – it’s nothing to do with us.

We’re more than happy to support any local business that’s been attacked or vandalised.

And even if we had given somebody a flag and they had gone and done something racist with it – if I give someone a bike and they crash it, it’s not my fault.

What people ultimately chose to do with them [the flags], is down to them.

Now, helping with the clean-up is all well and good. However, the problem is that while racists are spraying red crosses as an intimidation tactic and far-right protesters are encrusting themselves in the flag, putting up more of them isn’t a neutral act.

For as long as racists are using the flag to intimidate anyone they perceive as insufficiently white and British, we don’t get to pretend that they’re a nice, comfortable symbol of pride. And, given that this history of the British flag’s ties to racism is rather long, that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

Featured image via the Canary