Month: October 2009

US Louisiana justice of the peace refuses to wed white woman with a black man

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The refusal of a Louisiana justice of the peace to marry a white woman and a black man has caused dismay and calls by government as well as civil rights groups for the removal from office of the public official, Keith Bardwell.

The United States overturned in 1967 a law which prohibited in a number of states such as California marriages between black and white people.

In an article in the Louisina-based Hammondstar.com, Bardwell defended his decision. “I don’t do interracial marriages because I don’t want to put children in a situation they didn’t bring on themselves,” he said. “In my heart, I feel the children will later suffer.”

The odd reasoning by the Louisiana justice of the peace clearly shows that racism in the United States is alive and kicking. Even though there are no such laws in the European Union that forbid multicultural marriages, there are some stark reminders of it in our recent history in Europe.

Immigrants in Finland must have a voice

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One may ask why unemployment among foreigners was three-fold higher than the national average of 7.6% in the month of August. Certainly those that take a stricter view on the role of immigrants in Finland may claim that it is due to lack of language and job skills.

While this may be partially true,  it is only a partial answer to the serious problem.

In my opinion, the reason for the present situation is because immigrants do not have a representative voice in Finnish society. Why would politicians care less about representing this group if they account for a small percentage, or fraction of a percentage, of their votes?

Another factor why immigrants do not have a voice in Finland is because there are still too few qualified teachers, social workers, civil service employees, policy makers with immigrant backgrounds representing and looking out for their interests.

Even though the government and laws of Finland may have the best of intentions, they are only that: good intentions with a sour aftertaste of patronizing.

High unemployment is, in my opinion, a clear way to measure how well immigrants are doing in Finland. At present over 20% jobless rates, or even over 50% for some national groups, many immigrant groups are doing very poorly in this country.

If immigrants want to have a greater say in their new home, they must rise to the challenge.

The present path of accepting high unemployment as if it were normal because those with foreign backgrounds lack sufficient skills will no do as an excuse.

The only way when things will start to change for immigrants  in Finland is when they start to have a voice in this society.