Month: August 2015

Marshall Niles: Everyday racism can break a person’s heart

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: Our newest associate editor, Marhsall Niles, is very outspoken about migrant rights. We are happy that we have a person like Marshall on board since it makes sailing in Finland’s sometimes turbulent waters easier. 

Marshall is a good example that one can make a difference with his example. What he wrote a Facebook post that got noticed on Uusi Suomi. 

What he has one important message: Silence won’t be our language. 

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“Kato neekeri” (Look n-word), a group of idiots commented when I was in an ABC gas station. If people don’t know the difference between black, brown, yellow and white, and use the term neekeri ( n-word) to mean anyone of darker skin and foreign background, then, parents what the hell are you teaching your kids?

Months ago, a fat old drunk in our village’s only bar/restaurant called Petra, openly said how Somalis and immigrants deserve to be thrown out of the country. I was standing right in front of him when he said that. There have never been any Somalis in or around our village, and I can count about 3-5 immigrants amongst the 5000 Finnish inhabitants who live here. Yet, he seemed to enjoy stating loudly how immigrants and Somalis need to be thrown out (of the country).

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MP Olli Immonen, Birkenau death camp, and the PS’ party convention in Turku on August 8-9

Posted on by Migrant Tales
puoluekokous

 See original posting here.

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Defining white Finnish privilege #23: Greater police powers to monitor migrants and minorities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finnish white privilege, like any majority culture’s privilege, not only permeates in our institutions but marks the pace of how those with no privilege are treated in this society. Granting the police greater monitoring powers [1] to carry out arbitrary checks on migrants, and subsequently on non-white Finns, is a case in point in white Finnish privilege. 

Writes YLE in English:

New legislative changes came into force in May allowing police and border guard officials to perform immigration checks as part of their everyday duties, without any prior suspicion of crime. The wider powers will allow officers to conduct thorough inspections of business premises as part of their work.

The goal of the legal reform is to clarify the jurisdiction of police and border guards. Previously police were only able to investigate business premises for possible immigration offences if they suspected a crime had been committed.

The Council of Europe, and other anti-racism activists in Finland and abroad, have expressed concern about ethnic profiling by the police.

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The language and actions of anti-immigration parties and groups are based on violence

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Some 40 members of the neo-Nazi Suomen Vastarintaliike (SVL) took part in a demonstration Saturday ended violently, according to YLE in English. Thirty-two people were detained in the central Finnish city of Jyväskylä by the police and charged with rioting and assault.

While the SVL have always been a violent group, the statements that were made after what happened in Jyväskylä are the most surprising.

One of these is by the new National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehminen, who claimed on YLE that he was surprised that the SVL demonstration turned violent in such an organized manner.

The police may have been surprised by what happened in Jyväskylä but many aren’t. What can you expect from a group that openly wants to change Finland into a Nazi state with violence?

The other surprising statement was from Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, who declared in recent a Facebook post war on multiculturalism states, now claims that he “doesn’t support the use of violence under any circumstances.

The first thing that strikes me about these two statements is their incredulity. Before making such statements as the above, both Kolehminen and Immonen could ask the following questions:

  • Have the SVL grown in recent years?
  • If it hasn’t grown why has coverage of its violent acts become more visible in the media?
  • Is violence only physical? Can words be violent and/or cause acts of physical violence?
  • If a party like the PS constantly victimizes and excludes certain groups from being equal members of Finnish society, isn’t such a stance just as bad as an act of physical violence?

Iltalehti

Here’s one example of how rhetoric can turn in to violence. Tabloid Iltalehti reports that multiculturalism caused tempers rise to such a point that a man shoved a six-year-old.

Apart from posing with a group of SVL members in a picture in June, one could ask what Immonen really meant by condemning all forms of violence if his political career has been based on violent statements against migrants and minorities?

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