Street Graffiti

Offensive graffiti
Graffiti can also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti can be difficult to locate, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly'). Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight not easily recognized as "racist". It can then only be understood if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal and spatial), which is seen as heteroglot and thus an 'unique set of conditions'.
A spatial code could for example be, that there is a certain youth group in an area which is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti only containing the name or abbreviation of this gang is already a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases the herald of more serious criminal activity. A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by e.g. asylum-seekers it's racist character is even stronger.