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A shocking dossier on racism across Thanet has been sent to an MP who has been accused of being "blind" to the issue.
The report, compiled by district councillor Aram Rawf (Lab), contains personal testimonies from people who have suffered racial abuse across the Isle.
Among them is the mother of a one-year-old baby girl, who says her daughter was called the n-word by a stranger in the street.
Cllr Rawf has sent the report to South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay, who he has previously accused of "failing to acknowledge" major local Black Lives Matter marches last month.
At the time, Mr Mackinlay said he looked forward to receiving a "full and comprehensive dossier" on the scope and scale of racism in Thanet.
He said he would launch an investigation into the problem and share evidence with the police, crime commissioner and home secretary.
Cllr Rawf has since sent him the six-page report.
It starts by accusing Mr Mackinlay of being "unlikely" to have many people reporting incidents to him as they would "not expect a sympathetic hearing" because he is a Conservative, leading Brexiteer and former member of UKIP.
It goes on to highlight angry marches held in Margate in the early 2000s, when the National Front and other far-right groups protested against asylum seekers.
Cllr Rawf then details news coverage of a number of racially aggravated crimes across Thanet in recent years.
But most shocking are the personal accounts of three residents Cllr Rawf says spoke to him anonymously about being racially abused.
One, who lives in Ramsgate, said: “Having grown up in Thanet and lived here for over 40 years I have certainly experienced racism.
“That Craig Mackinlay says none has been reported to him is a reflection on him, not the existence of it in Thanet.
“I should not stoop to his level and give my personal experience as it is deeply offensive to deny the reality of black people in Thanet who experience racism almost daily.
"I cannot even name my profession as it would too easily identify who I am, such is the low representation of black people across professions in Thanet."
Another person added: "When I used to go out drinking in Ramsgate years ago I’d encounter racism pretty much every night, mostly verbal aimed towards friends but on multiple occasions physical attacks were included.
“I played Sunday league in a team with a few Polish players and they received abuse every single game.”
And a third said: “I work in Aldi in Cliftonville where I regularly witness white British customers racially abusing a person of colour, staff and customers included."
She added her teenage daughter has been racially abused at a local secondary school, and even her one-year-old daughter has been subjected to abuse.
She said: “First at around three months old, in the local off-licence, a white British male blocked our way and stated, ‘Ah look, Tarzan baby, like a black monkey’, laughed, then kissed her on the forehead and walked out."
She says on the second occasion, which was reported to police, a white woman outside home called her baby daughter the n-word.
In response to Mr Mackinlay's comments, she added: "Your comments have hurt so many people. Your comments have caused and added to serious emotional trauma of Thanet residents.
"Your dismissive attitude shows a total lack of understanding and empathy."
A fourth resident said: "For Mackinlay to ask the victims of racism to tell him about any incidents is insensitive and risks retraumatising these individuals.
"Many victims of racism don’t want to talk about what happened to them, they want to forget it and move on, it’s too painful."
Cllr Rawf stated these were only a small sample of what many ethnic minorities experience in Thanet.
In a letter to Mr Mackinlay, he said: "I am very happy to share this information with, as you suggest, Kent Police, the police and crime commissioner, and government ministers, including the Home Secretary.
"But I do also call on you now stick to your promise and to launch an investigation into racism in Thanet.
"You must forget about your past, join the fight against racism and work with us to tackle this problem. You must start representing everyone in the community not just your core voters."
After the Black Lives Matter marches, Mr Macknlay was criticised for his suggestion to open a garden in Thanet to display unwanted and "despised" statues from across the country.
Responding to the dossier, he said he was pleased to receive the report - but "dismayed" to be accused of people not expecting a "sympathetic hearing".
"This is an appalling accusation to a member of parliament who is elected and demonstrably serves all constituents no matter what their political persuasion or any other characteristics, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or age," he said.
"I am sorry to say my interest from thereon became limited as the letter was obviously designed as political gameplaying rather than anything substantial to assist in the removal of the cancer of racism from our society."
He said the letter did highlight serious incidences that had led to convictions, but other events were "light on detail".
"I did not promise to launch an investigation," he added.
"As an MP I have no status within the criminal justice system nor do I have the staff, budget or facilities to do so.
"I have however passed the letter to chief inspector Ed Ruffle, district commander for Thanet who may like to meet with Cllr Rawf and South Thanet Labour members to establish if they have additional evidence to assist in further lines of inquiry."
