Çelen Oben and Sheila Riikonen In Finland where finance and politics are no longer barriers to achieve star status in sports, what challenges do minorities face? Do female athletes, persons with disabilities, or those coming from immigrant backgrounds have equal opportunities in Finnish society? You can visit Nooralotta Neziri official website here. Nooralotta Neziri just won…
Month: February 2013
Nipping prejudice in the bud with our example
We must find effective ways to nip prejudice in the bud. The worst matter we can do when it happens is our silence, which emboldens and strengthens intolerance to see a new day. How you may ask can we challenge such social ills? The answer is simple: our example and leadership. Racist rants are usually…
Jyväskylä may turn into another blow to Finland’s Counterjihadist -anti-immigration hardliners
If the Counterjihadist-anti-immigration tide turned in Finland and the Nordic region after 22/7, when Anders Breivik went on the rampage killing 77 innocent people, the attack in Jyväskylä on Wednesday by suspected far-right thugs could be a serious blow to anti-immigration and far right groups in Finland. Whenever hatred metamorphoses into violence, like in the case…
Red Herring tales (Part 2): City of Vaasa bans the burkini
As expected, the Vaasa city leisure committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the use of burkinis. The committee claims that the swimming outfit, consisting of a head scarf, tunic and trousers designed for Muslim women, is a dangerous to the swimmer and unhygienic. It’s unclear from the rules if Muslims are required to go to the sauna naked….
Post-Jyväskylä: Where do we go from here?
Considering how the media treated before the April 2011 election racism and far right ideology and how social media sites were teeming with racist online lynch mobs, we are today waking up from the hangover of our state of social inebriation. The aftereffect will not go away in a day, week, or month but will…
PS’ Eerola now claims that Jyväskylä stabbing was probably staged
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juho Eerola said that Wednesday’s attack by suspected neo-Nazi thugs at a book presentation in Jyväskylä was probably staged in order to sell more books, reports Turun Sanomat citing STT. Two of Äärioikesto Suomessa’s (Far right in Finland) three authors, Li Andersson and Mikael Brunila, were present at the event but…
Pia Grochowski: Women in sports, what’s being missed
Pia Grochowski As women’s rights, LGBT rights are advancing in the world, women are taking a larger role in sports. In Finland, the position of women in sports has been rather strong in athletics, in football even hockey. Finland is a nation that is advanced in terms of gender equality. If one looks at the…