A story in Thursday’s Helsingin Sanomat shows that the shadow of Finlandization continues to hang deep on Finland even if the demise of the former Soviet Union ocurred in 1991. Even if the Helsingin Sanomat story writes about Finland’s first-ever airplane hijacking case in 1977 involving two Soviet citizens on an Aeroflot flight, it sheds an…
Month: July 2014
Racism tells you over and over again: don’t bite the hand that feeds you
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts. E.B. White (1899-1985), USAmerican writer Being an immigrant and Other all my life, researching and especially writing about racism regularly, or daily for the past three-and-a-half years, have taught me a thing or two about this social ill. Some may ask why…
Helsingin Sanomat poll reinforces why unfair hiring practices are probably widespread in Finland
A survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat reveals what we’ve known all along about the causes of unfair hiring practices, high migrant unemployment and discrimination. The survey revealed that six out of 10 people polled would hire a Finn over a migrant if jobs were scarce. Is scarcity the real factor? Even during good economic times, migrant…
How the Finnish media gives anti-immigration parties like the PS space, inflated respectability and importance
An article in Sunday’s Helsingin Sanomat about Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mika Raatikainen, who will replace former PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s after he was elected to the European parliament in May, reveals once again this country’s media fascination with racist double-talk and rhetoric that just don’t add up never mind make sense. If there is a culprit…
Defining white Finnish privilege #8: Underrated and less intelligent
In many respects white privilege, or specifically white Finnish privilege, is a good way to understand some of the challenges that migrants and especially non-white Finns face in this country. Migrant Tales invites readers to contribute their thoughts on the social ill. Please get in touch with us and write to [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you….
How the Finnish media continues to be part of the problem by reinforcing stereotypes and racist perceptions of migrants and minorities
A news story about migrant crime was published by the Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat with a provocative drawing of a black man’s arms handcuffed. Migrant Tales got in touch with the reporter that wrote the story and asked why it was considered news at the end of July if it was based on a study published by The…
Why is there racism in Finland? The answer is right under your nose, stupid!
It’s odd but whenever a newspaper publishes a story on migrant crime, migrants in general or politicians from parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and other ones make a case against cultural diversity, they conveniently forget the roots of their racism and prejudices. Since denial is an important ally of intolerance, it’s clear that racism enjoys near-immunity in…
Racism, children and football in Finland
If you want to find a short cut into racism in Finland, read the anonymous comments after a news story on the topic. One such story, published Monday by Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat, is a perfect example. The news story is about a group of 10-11-year-old boys who were returning by ship to the mainland…
(Migrant Tales July 22, 2014) Anders Breivik: Three years after the horror of 22/7 in Norway
How many still remember 22/7, when mass-murderer Anders Breivik went on the rampage three years ago killing 77 innocent victims? Who wants to remember the man that carried out the worst attack on Norway since the Second World War? What will the local papers write about that horrific day, today? What will their editorials say if…
Migrants’ Rights Network: ‘Too Many Immigrants?’, ‘Big Romanian Invasion’, or ‘Glasgow Girls’: Which got closer to the truth in telling the story of immigration?
Don Flynn* You wait for weeks for a programme that allows migrants to tell the stories of their lives, and then three come along at once. The media critic Ben Bagdikian once complained that trying to be a first class reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach’s ‘St…