Racist and homophobic graffiti scrawled on a car in a supposedly secure underground apartment parking lot has a Kamloops mom speaking out.

Speaking on the NL Noon Report, Jennifer Dolson says she has an eight-year-old bi-racial daughter – and she has struggled to find the right age-appropriate things to say to her to make her feel safe.

“Her innocence is such that she thinks the ‘N-word’ is ‘new driver’,” Dolson said. “I’m not worried someone is going to come to our door – but to feel somebody that could live right next to you has those feelings is extremely uncomfortable and its not a safe feeling,” she said.

Dolson says reaction to a social media post she made about the incident was mixed – with some people suggesting the culprit may have been kids playing a joke.

“[My daughter] has been picked on for her skin colour, her eye colour, the way her hair is so curly. To us in our home that’s just not kids being kids,” she added.

“There’s several people that think its just a joke and its just punk kids and just wipe it off, ignore it and like basically look the other way and turn a blind eye. That doesn’t really work so well when it affects your family. Some people don’t have the privilege to turn around and look the other way.”

Dolson says she was parked next to the vandalized vehicle and has now moved her car out onto the street so her daughter won’t see the graffiti.

“This isn’t a joke. This isn’t funny. This is pure hate speech. this isn’t just dust on a car now,” she added. “It is a sign of hate.”

Kamloops RCMP are investigating – and Dolson says her building manager is also going through about 12 hours of security video to try and find the culprit.

(Photo via Jennifer Dolson on facebook)