As long as we don’t see racism as a big enough problem in our society, our response to it will be inefficient. Just like any illness, we must first diagnose it and then prescribe a cure. It’s disappointing to read how some people can insult others in a racist manner. Yesterday’s news story published…
Month: April 2013
Suvaitsemattomuudesta ei löydy ratkaisu, koska sitä ei koeta tarpeeksi isoksi ongelmaksi
Tässä on mielestäni ongelman ydin kun puhumme rasistisesta kiusaamisesta koulussa tai häirinnästä julkisella paikalla: jos kiellämme ettei rasismi ole ongelma, lääkkeet sen vastustamiseen ovat puutteelliset. Tärkeintä on löytää keinot haasta tämä ilmiö koulussa. On surulista lukea kuinka ihmiset voivat nimettömänä loukata toisia rasistisesti. Eilisen kirjoitus yksinhuoltajasta äidistä ja hänen pojastaan, jotka muuttivat Helsinkiin Mikkelistä rasismin takia, kertoo…
Sara kertoo kuinka hänen poikansa joutui rasistisen kiusauksen kohteeksi Mikkeliläisessä koulussa
Mitä ajattelisit, jos kuulisit afrikkalaisesta yksinhuoltaja äidistä, joka joutui muuttamaan Helsinkiin sen vuoksi että hänen poikansa joutui kokemaan koulussa kiusaamista ja rasismia? Ottaisitko tiedon vastaan ja lakaisisit sen maton alle vakuuttamalla itsellesi ettei tätä voi tapahtua kaupungissa missä asun? Migrant Tales blogi otti yhteyttä äitiin Sara (nimi muutettu), joka kertoi että hänen ja pojan elämä…
Migrant Tales Literary: Six sparrows in spring
By Leo Honka Six sparrows in the woods fly through the soul but all is not lost there’s plenty of room in spring: goose is exhaled, duck now enters, learns to stay an image hare now hopes in. Late to an appointment sadness rushes out of the door as toucan paints the scene with its mighty…
Sara speaks out against the racist harassment her son endured at a school in Mikkeli, Finland
What would you do if you heard that an African single mother decided to leave Mikkeli for Helsinki because her eight-year-old child was a victim of racist harassment or bullying at school? Would you just register the news and brush it conveniently under the rug and reassure yourself that these types of things don’t happen…
Our lopsided debate on immigration and refugees serves to keep our society white
The most startling fact about a US state department report on human rights for 2012 weren’t the sentences for hate speech handed to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members such as MP Jussi Halla-aho and Freddy Van Wonterghem, but the discrimination suffered by Finland’s Romany minority, which number about 10,000. Read full US secretary of state human…
Matias Turkkila reveals how Finnish racism became acceptable thanks to Hommaforum and the PS
Matias Turkkila, the editor of the Perussuomalinen newspaper and founding member of Hommaforum, reinforced on Friday’s A-studio: Stream talk show on hate speech what we always knew: some Finns have serious problems in tolerating others who are different from them. The whole debate surrounding hate speech, freedom of expression and what these two matters are becomes clouded…
Julian Abagond: style guide – Eurocentric words
By Julian Abagond Eurocentricisms are words that centre Western experience, that make white people seem “normal” and everyone else strange, exotic or screwed up. Such words get in the way of clear thinking. In general, avoid: Dichotomous thinking: words that split the world in two, especially into a good half and a bad half. The world is…
Intolerance is a wonderful weapon to exploit newcomers and strike a blow to organized labor
There’s little chance to stop Finland from becoming an ever-growing class society or that its suspicion of immigrants and visible minorities will lessen anytime soon. Our greater intolerance of other groups won’t only be fueled by our prejudice and loathing, but by Finland’s “other” that will be more than happy to oblige. Some immigrants and…
Migrant Tales (November 28, 2011): Who is Finland’s Uncle Tom?
Comment: This blog entry was first published on November 28, 2011. For some reason, it’s impossible to access this posting from the old Migrant Tales site. I have reposted it on www.migranttales.net. _____________________ Is there such a concept as Uncle Tom in Finland? @HelsinkiObs helped me out with this question: “It’s Setä Tuomo (older style)…