Month: June 2020

Exposing white Finnish privilege #71: Hate speech is an example of white supremacist privilege

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

As the troubled dust settles over Friday’s vote in parliament that kept Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Juha Mäenpää’s immunity from persecution, the arguments for or against have little or nothing to do with freedom of speech but expose white supremacist privilege.

Even if the Finnish constitution and integration program speak of a two-way process, in practice, it is only a one-way street.

Bengt Holmström, a Finnish economist who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 2016, said it all two years ago in an interview in YLE.

James Baldwin (1924-87) gives us a glimpse of what it means to be black in the United States. I am confident that people of color and other minorities feel the same way in Finland. We speak about social equality for all (Section 6 of the Constitution), but who are entitled to it?

“It’s good for them [migrants],” he said. “By the same token, it would let them move up the [social] ladder, and it would not irritate Finns so much [because foreigners have done little to nothing to build the country’s social welfare system that has taken white Finns decades].”

While Holmström says that the best way of integrating newcomers and their children in Finland is social inequality, others say it less directly but mean the same thing.

Turku University assistant professor Markku Jokisipilä is another “learned” Finn who defends white Finnish privilege to the core. It became evident after Friday’s vote in parliament, concerning Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity.

A year ago, Mäenpää labeled asylum seekers, which is code for Muslim in the PS vocabulary, “an invasive species.”

Without even weighing how offensive the PS MP’s words are to migrants and minorities in Finland, Jokisipilä believes that the incident could encourage greater self-censorship among MPs.

“It remains to be seen whether there will be a list of topics that cannot be talked about with the same openness and critical thinking of other topics,” he said in Turun Sanomat.

He also suggested in the interview that there were different types of cultures. Since this was the case, politicians and people, in general, should be able to criticize different cultures or ethnic groups.

One matter that I have never understood, when reading the mindset of people like Holmström and Jokisipilä, is why is it ok to speak in a demeaning manner of migrants and minorities, who don’t have the same privileges and power they enjoy?

Why wouldn’t anyone try the same crude and offensive expressions with women?

Indeed, such women are white, and all hell would break loose as we saw with the Jukka Hankamäki misogynist publication fiasco of “Truth inciters.”

The reaction to Hankamäki’s publication, which was taken down from the Internet two days after its publication, does not imply that there is full gender equality in Finland.

FINNISH WHITE PRIVILEGE #71

Hate speech, as the Mäenpää case shows, is not only an example of white Finnish privilege but its supremacy over non-white people. White Finnish privilege has such deep roots in our society that we have people like Holmström, Jokisipilä, even political parties like the PS, openly endorsing status-quo social inequality.

Disagree? Listen to the excuses for Mäenpää’s racist invasive species outburst by MPs of the PS, National Coalition Party, and Christian Democrat parties. Some of these included: “[Mäenpää] chose his words incorrectly, it was a gag, a joke, a slip [of the tongue], a bad joke, those who don’t understand [what he said] have no sense of humor.”

Yes, true. It may be “a joke” to some in parliament, but I doubt that it is for those people whom Mäenpää labeled in the most hostile and demeaning manner.

See also:

Exposing white Finnish privilege #70: At the dentist’s and where are you from?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

There have been a number of social media posts about how health-care workers assume what is your cultural and linguistic background. Not only do they make the assumption, but label you in such a way.

While some of you may say that I am being hypersensative, what would a black USAmerican think if I asked him if he spoke English and where he was from?

I have lived most of my adult life in Finland and I still get asked by some health officials if I speak Finnish and where I’m from.

Here is a short dialogue of what happened this week at the dentist’s.

The dentist asks in English if I speak Finnish.

Me: “Yes I do” (responding in Finnish).

Dentist: “Oh, ok, but where are you from? You have a foreign name.”

At this moment I felt a bit uncomfortable. Why should I explain my background to the dentist? It’s my teeth that she should worry about.

Me: “I was born in Argentina, grew up in the States and my mother is Finnish.”

Even if I told her that “I grew up in the United States,” she determined that I was only from South American.

Dentist: “My husband is a foreigner and we have travelled in South American countries like Peru, Chile and Bolivia.”

Me: “Is your husband from South America?”

Dentist taken slighly aback: “No, he’s German.”

I told the dentist that in this day and age, there are a lot of Finns that don’t have Finnish-sounding names.

FINNISH WHITE PRIVILEGE #70

I hope that Finnish children are giving a different education about Finnish identity and Finns than what the middle-aged dentist received.

The dentist’s questions about my background felt like a rude example of white Finnish privilege.

See also:

Some social media reaction to today’s vote that failed to lift Juha Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Social media reaction to Friday’s vote in parliament that saved Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Juha Mäenpää from facing ethnic agitation charges has been lively.

Parliament (Eduskunta) voted on Friday not to lift Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Juha Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity, which needed a five-sixths majority to pass. The final vote tally was 121 in favor of lifting parliamentary immunity, and 54 against; 24 MPs were absent from the voting.

Parliament debated the matter on Wednesday.

Mäenpää equates his victory to President Juho Paasikivi (1946-56). He considers his “invasive species” comment to “sturdily pursing Finnish interests.”

Below are some reactions on social media to the vote.

“A gloomy and shameful day in the history of Finland. Parliament did not obtain the majority required to remove parliamentary immunity from Juha Mäenpää (Perussuomalaiset, or Basic Finns party) to be prosecuted for the crime of hate speech. Mäenpää compared last year at a session of parliament that people seeking refuge are invasive species. His speech fuelled debate on the limits of free speech and whether incitement of hatred, violence, and racism fell under that category.
For the Basic Finns spokeswoman Riikka Purra, lifting parliamentary immunity from prosecution would have undermined freedom of expression in parliament. For the leader of the party, Jussi Halla-aho, the comparison between unwanted immigration and invasive species was a “humorous comment” to attract the attention of the government that should focus more on these points.
This is very serious, such an argument can justify any outrageous outburst that is said in parliament under the protection of freedom of expression. Let’s be attentive.”

“Shameful and sad.”

Finnish parliament does not lift Juha Mäenpää’s immunity from prosecution

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

The racist in a culture with racism is therefore normal.

Frantz Fanon (1925-61)

Parliament (Eduskunta) voted on Friday not to lift Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Juha Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity, which needed a five-sixths majority to pass. The final vote tally was 121 in favor of lifting parliamentary immunity, and 54 against; 24 MPs were absent from the voting.

Parliament debated the matter on Wednesday.

Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen was disappoined by the vote.

“Following the public debate [on Mäenpää’s immunity], I could guess that this would be the outcome,” she was quoted as saying in Yle. “But yes, I am disappointed with the outcome. It gives the impression that a minority that voted [in parliament] signals a more acceptable attitude towards racist hate speech.”

One of the most significant aspects of today’s vote was the high number of national Coalition Party MPs who were absent. One third or a total of 13 MPs out of 30 MPs were absent from the voting.

In June last year, Mäenpää had labeled asylum seekers “an invasive species.” In his defense, he said that “invasive species” is not an ethnic group even though the vast majority of refugees to Finland are Muslims.

Mäenpää equates his victory to President Juho Paasikivi (1946-56). He considers his “invasive species” comment to “sturdily pursing Finnish interests.”
Read the full story here.

While Mäenpää said that he’d choose his words more carefully in the future, others fear that the vote sets a worrisome precedent. Like Social Democrat MP Hussein Al-Taee said on Wednesday, hate speech pundits and racist bullies are always testing how far they can draw the line.

The use of demeaning labels was used two days ago in parliament by PS MPs like Mauri Peltokangas, who referred to refugees as “welfare shoppers.”

If Al-Taee is correct, not only is parliament on a slippery slope but I believe the whole of Finland. The rise of an Islamophobic party like the PS in 2011 is the clearest example that we have been on that slope for many years.

Below are the names and party of the MPs who voted against lifting Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity from prosecution:

37 PS MPs (Juha Mäenpää absent)

  1. Sanna Antikainen
  2. Juho Erola
  3. Ritva Elomaa
  4. Jussi Halla-aho
  1. Petri Huru
  2. Olli Immonen
  3. Vilhelm Junnila
  4. Kaisa Juuso
  5. Arja Juvonen
  6. Toimi Kankaanniemi
  7. Ari Koponen
  8. Jari Koskela
  9. Jouni Kotiaho
  10. Sheikki Laakso
  11. Rami Lehto
  12. Mikko Lundén
  13. Leena Meri
  14. Jani Mäkelä
  15. Jukka Mäkynen
  16. Veijo Niemi
  17. Mika Niikko
  18. Tom Packalén
  19. Mauri Peltokangas
  20. Sakari Puisto
  21. Riikka Purra
  1. Lulu Ranne
  2. Mari Rantanen
  3. Minna Reijonen
  4. Jari Ronkainen
  5. Sami Savio
  6. Jenna Simula
  7. Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo
  8. Ville Tavio
  9. Sebastian Tynkkynen
  10. Veikko Vallin
  11. Ville Vähämäki
  12. Jussi Wihonen

6 Center Party MPs

  1. Hannu Hoskonen
  2. Tuomas Kettunen
  3. Pasi Kivisaari
  4. Mikko Käärnä
  1. Juha Pylväs
  2. Mikko Savola

5 Christian Democrat MPs (all of the 5 MPs voted against)

  1. Sari Essayah
  1. Antero Laukkanen
  2. Päivi Räsänen
  3. Sari Tanus
  4. Peter Östman

4 National Coalition Party MPs (one third or 13 MPs of the 38 MPs were absent)

  1. Janne Heikkinen
  2. Wille Rydman
  1. Janne Sankelo
  2. Heikki Vestman

1 Movement now MP

  1. Harry Harkimo

1 MP Ano Turtiainen

  1. Ano Turtiainen

Sources: Helsingin Sanomat and Eduskunta.

Ano Turtiainen: the PS doesn’t love me, I love the PS – watch me now eat my words

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group for mocking George Floyd’s death in a tweet, he now said that he would want to return to his former parliamentary group.

A day after he was expelled from the parliamentary group earlier this month, Turtiainen was adamant: “I am not going to request joining [the parliamentary group] again, but they can come to ask me with cap in hand,” he said according to Yle.

But things are now different since Turtiainen has had a change of heart. He wants to join again the parliamentary group that ejected him.

Eating his words, Turtiainen appears like a mouse pulling petals and singing a familiar tune: The PS loves me, I don’t love the PS, the PS loves me…

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

The PS asked Turtiainen if he wanted to join the parliamentary group. If he didn’t, the PS was ready to expell him from the party.

Tough-looking persons like Turtiainen aren’t as tough as they seem, even if they try to show off their macho-man persona with racist posts.

Pitäisikö rasistien rangaistuksia koventaa?

Posted on by Reija Härkönen

Suomessa keskustellaan, onko kansanedustajalla eduskunnassa oikeus ilman laissa säädettyä rangaistusta halujensa ja kykyjensä mukaan solvata maahanmuuttajia ja kiihottaa kannattajiaan kansanryhmää vastaan. Yllätys tällainen keskustelu ei ole, onhan rasismille näkyvästi tasoiteltu tietä Suomen eduskuntaan jo yli kymmenen vuoden ajan. Ei yllätys, mutta suuri kauhistus. Ei tämä ole Suomi, pohjoismainen, sivistynyt oikeusvaltio.

Halla-aho juustomaassa

Enää ei voi ajatella, että laki kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan olisi tarkoitettu vain vähän suitsimaan sivistymättömimpien törkimyksien kielenkäyttöä. Tällä lailla on tarkoitus estää yhteiskunnan luisuminen rasismiin ja rasististen, fasististen joukkojen terrorisoimaksi. Ei ole enää mitenkää selvää, että ihmiset olisivat oppineet toisen maailmansodan kauheuksista ja hyvät voimat pysyvät automaattisesti vallassa. Eivät ne pysy.

Vihapuhe ja rasismi on pidettävä kurissa demokraattisen valtion suomin keinoin. Lainsäädäntö ja lakien oikeudenmukaisuus ja niiden soveltamisen järjellisyys ja kohtuus ovat tärkeä osa tätä työtä. Jos rasistisesta vihapuheesta ja kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan ei saa sen kummempaa rangaistusta, kuin vaikkapa ylinopeudesta, ne eivät kansalaisten mielestä ole kuin pikkurikkeitä. Ja kuitenkin on kysymys raskaista ihmisoikeusrikoksista.

Tällä hetkellä tilanne on se, että kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan saatu rangaistus on äärioikeistolaisille poliitikoille vain hyödyksi. Nimi pysyy kansan mielessä, maine nousee ja sakkorahoja vääryyttä kärsineelle kerätään porukalla.

IMG_7379

Kun Jussi Halla-aho vuonna 2011 sai tuomion kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan, hänet määrättiin poistamaan rasistisesta kirjoituksestaan osia. Kansallissankari ”poisti” kohdat korostamalla ne punaisella ja toistamalla, millaisen tekstin oikeus on määrännyt poistamaan. Kirjoitus liputtaa Halla-ahon blogissa yhä rasistijoukkioiden riemuvoittoa. Oikeuslaitos oli mukamas voimaton ja sankarin sädekehä kasvoi. Media oli onnessaan tilaisuudesta klikkiotsikointiin. Helsingin Sanomat kirjoitti, että maallikon on vaikea ymmärtää Halla-ahon saamaa rangaistusta. Näin sekä oikeuslaitos että arvostettu valtamedia edistivät rasistipuolueen etenemistä. Maallikon oli ja on vaikea ymmärtää kansanedustuslaitoksen harjoittamaa oikeuslaitoksen halventamista.

Täky 1
täky 2

Rasismi ja fasismi etenevät maassamme myös siksi, että on niin helppoa olla rasisti ja nousta jopa kansanedustajaksi, ministeriksi ja eduskunnan puhemieheksi. Mitään muuta ei tarvitse osata, kuin puhua sopivasti rumia maahanmuuttajista. On olemassa kansanosa, joita tällaiset puheet mukavasti kutkuttelevat ja jotka ovat aina valmiita äänestämään öykkäriä. Myös kokoomuslaista tai kristillisdemokraattista öykkäriä. Ahneus valtaa mielet ja puolueiden ehdokkaiksi hyväksytään jokainen, joka osaa hankkia äänestäjiä, keinoista viis. Pikkuisen kun osaa rääväsuisuuttaan moderoida median mukaan, on jo puoluejohdon suosikki.

Pitäisikö siis rangaistusten olla kovempia? Olisiko vankeusrangaistus aina paikallaan henkilölle, joka kiistää toisen ihmisen yhtäläisen arvon tai juonittelee kannattajansa vihaan ja vimmaan, jos jollain sattuu olemaan vähän tummempi hipiä?

Sellaisten ihmisten, jotka ymmärtävät, millaisia kauheuksia on maassamme meneillään, pitäisi ainakin olla tiukempia ja tarttua rasismiin aina kun sitä huomaavat. Myös eduskunnassa. Kaikilla yhteiskunnan tasoilla olisi selvästi osoitettava, että rasismia ei hyväksytä. Tunnustuksellinen rasisti, rasistisen puolueen jäsen ja äänestäjä joutaa menettämään kunniansa, työpaikkansa ja ystävänsä.

Kukaan kunniallinen ihminen ei lähde marssille fasistin kanssa.

Fasismi

Poliittiset piirrokset: Sira Moksi

Case PS MP Juha Mäenpää: Racism, bigotry, and fascism give another blow to the Finnish parliament’s credibility

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

The Finnish parliament voted Friday not to lift Juha Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity, which needed a five-sixths majority; 121 voted in favor and 54 against. A total of 24 MPs were absent.

Those who voted against were 37 Perussuomalaiset Party MPs, 6 Center Party MPs, 5 Christian Democrat MPs, 4 National Coalition Party MPs, 1 Movement Now MP, 1 MP Ano Turtiainen.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Finnish parliament (Eduskunta) showed once again its racism, bigotry, and fascism in an over four-hour debate on lifting Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Juha Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity from prosecution.

Lst week, the constitutional law committee voted 12-5 to lift MP Mäenpää’s immunity after he compared asylum seekers last year with “an invasive species.”

Another worrisome matter that the debate about Mäenpää’s parliamentary immunity showed is the snail pace of justice. Prosecutor General Raija Toivianen’s decision to charge Mäenpää for ethnic agitation happened in January, about six months after Mäenpää’s infamous outburst.

Read the full story here.

One typical complaint by victims of racism, hate speech, and hate crime is that due justice takes too long in Finland.

While it appears that Mäenpää’s immunity will not be lifted on Friday, the likely vote will be another blow to the parliament’s credibility by Finland’s anti-racism, migrant and minority communities.

Mäenpää can lose his parliamentary immunity if five-sixths of parliament or 167 out of 200 MPs vote in favor. The PS can block the proposal with its 38 MPs.

Mäenpää, who is a member of the far-right and Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, has built his political career on far-right nationalism and anti-Muslim racism. In 2015, Mäenpää thanked god for answering his prayers when an asylum reception center was razed to the ground.

Juha Mäenpää with Ano Turtiainen, who recently mocked George Floyd’s death. Source: Facebook.

Wednesday’s debate in parliament revealed as well how racism, especially Islamophobia, has deep roots in Finland. Left Alliance MP Paavo Arhimäki highlighted some of the excuses given by MPs for Mäenpää’s racist behavior.

According to Arhimäki, some of the excuses used by PS, National Coalition Party, and Christian Democrat MPs were, “choosing his words incorrectly, it was a gag, a joke, a slip [of the tongue], a bad joke, those who don’t understand [what he said] have no sense of humor.”

Social Democratic MP Hussein Al-Tee said that he hoped that members of parliament would stop using labels that Other people like himself.

“I don’t deserve it, nobody else deserves it, and this hall should be a place that unites Finns,” he said and continues later on. “I hope that this hall will not be used to Other people like myself and people belonging to my [ethnic] group.”

MP Hussein Al-Tee speaking bfore parliament on Wednesday. Source: Yle.

Al-Taee pointed the finger at PS Chairperson Jussi Halla-aho, who labeled him last week a fake refugee (partalapsi).

“He [Halla-aho] gave incorrect information about my [refugee] background and It felt really bad [what he said],” he added. “Finns are those people who are ready to commit to our laws, regulations, work and pay taxes. If they are unable to do so, society will help them get on the right road.”

Even if Mäenpää and the PS continue to deny that they didn’t mean to label any group with “invasive species,” few will disagree that he meant asylum seekers and Muslims.

In Finland, asylum seeker is code for Muslim.

According to the National Geographic, “An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area.”

PS MPs played down what Mäenpää said as did others of the Christian Democratic Party, National Coalition Party, and Center Party.

PS MPs like Kristian Laakso considered the whole parliamentary debate “nonsense” and a waste of time. “Is this debate worth it ?” he asked.

PS MP Mauri Peltokangas. Source Migrant Tales.

Another PS MP, Mauri Peltokangas, who is a member of Suomen Sisu, slammed the debate an “inquisition.” PS parliamentary group leader Ville Tavio went as far as to say that if we take steps to limit criticism of Islam, it is a step from being a civilized country to one that is “a stone-age Islamic state.”

Opposition Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen said that lifting Mäenpää’s immunity is questionable since hate speech isn’t clearly outlined in the law (sic).

As mentioned, a number of PS MPs are members of the far-right Suomen Sisu association, which recommends white Finns not to marry outside their group.

Some PS MPs who are Suomen Sisu members include Olli Immonen, Jenna Simula, Mäenpää and Peltokangas, among others who were former members like Halla-aho and Juho Eerola.

Suomen Sisu chairperson Henri Hautamäki published on the same day as the debate in parliament a provocative blog entry titled “Total cultural war.”

While most of the text is a rant for Finnish white supremacist consumption, Hautamäki claims that the #BlackLivesMatter movement is a Marxist conspiracy by minorities to destroy Western culture and institutions.

Encouraging people to take action against such a conspiracy, the Suomen Sisu chairperson said that universities and the education system should be “cleaned” of non-nationalistic influences. Other institutions that should come under the control of the people is the media, the role of the state must be changed, according to him.

The only Finnish media to comment about Hautamäki’s column was Kansan Uutiset.

A station too far: An East African woman gets a sour taste of VR’s “service”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What would you say if you were a black East African nursing student in Finland and were aggressively escorted out of a train by two security guards? One held you by the arm, and the other had her in a chokehold.

What about if you are forced out of the train, you end up scraping and bruising your knee and elbow on the ground? And what about if the security guards, who saw your bruises, ordered you to leave the station?

A comprehensive study in 2018 on ethnic profiling by the University of Helsinki showed how ethnic profiling, especially by security staff, was a source of special concern.

“Many said [in the study] that security guards were often rude and treated them roughly, even violently,” said the University of Helsinki Professor Suvi Keskinen of one of the ethnic profiling study’s findings.

One migrant told Migrant Tales that some ticket inspectors can act in a racist manner. “They can be racist because they profile you [because you are not white],” he added. “The worst of the lot can sometimes be the non-white Finnish ticket inspectors.”

The unfortunate incident happened to the black woman on a local train one stop before her stop at Koivohovi in Espoo. The reason? Her phone went dead, and therefore could not show her monthly pass to the inspector.

“I pleaded with the inspector and later with the security guards to allow me to charge my phone so I could show them my ticket (see picture below).

The monthly pass ticket that a passenger could not show to the inspector of security guards because her phone went dead. She had a charger, but the security guards would not allow her to charge her phone. The whole incident could have been avoided if the passenger had connected her phone and charger to a socket.

Finnish railway operator VR and Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) require passengers to have their tickets handy even if their phone is dead. In such cases, however, the passenger can be fined but can annul the fine if the person can prove later that he or she had a valid ticket.

VR and HSL have a 5-euro charge for this service.

So what’s the issue? How about if we start from the hostile treatment that the black woman received from the security guards and the ticket inspector who ordered them to get her off the train?

“When I asked the inspector if I could charge my phone, she responded ‘no, no, no,'” she continued. “As she is checking tickets, there are two security guards behind her and she points to me, telling them that I did not have a ticket.”

The woman pleaded with the inspector and security guards to let her plug her phone into a socket but it was to no avail.

“Everything started to get violent when a drunk man by the door overhead what was happening and told the guards that I had no choice but to walk home,” she said. “I was then forced physically off the train [at Kauniainen a two-minute train ride to my final station].”

As the woman was being forced off the train, one security guard held her by the arm while the other had her in a chokehold.

“I told them that, se sattuu mua (you are hurting me), really loudly. Let me go you are hurting me!” she said. “Just as I stepped out of the train I twisted my ankle and fell on the ground scraping my knee and elbow which were now bleeding. My shoes, glasses, and phone were all scattered on the found all about me..”

The woman said that while she was being escorted off the train, a young man started to film what was happening.

“They [security guards] ordered me to leave the station but I told them that I just landed on my knee and I am in pain. How do you expect me to walk home?”

The woman still pleaded with guards asking them to allow her to charge her phone so she could board the train to her last stop two minutes away. Treating her in a demanding way, the guards ordered her to leave.

“Have a good day learn how to behave,” they said and started to escort her from the station.

Noticing that she could not walk because her knee was bleeding and in pain, the woman decided not to comply. She turned back sat on a platform bench. “How can you ask me to walk home [in this state],” she told the security guards.

Since the woman would not comply with the security guards’ orders, they called the police. They waited for two hours before the police arrived.

“When the police came, I stood up, but I noticed they weren’t interested in hearing my side of what happened,” she continued. “So I just sat and started to weep.”

The woman asked the police if the police could see that she was bleeding and hurt. The police were unresponsive. They asked her to leave the platform and station. “We don’t have any legal obligation to charge your phone,” the police responded to the woman’s plea so she could show her train ticket. “We want you to leave this platform now.”

The police gave her an ultimatum: to leave in two minutes or be taken to a detention cell at the police station.

“As the police were threatening to take me to a detention center, the young man who had recorded the whole incident spoke up.

“I have recorded everything,” he told the police. “They [the security guards] were very harsh to this woman. I cannot understand why you are threatening to detain her if she is the one who was abused [by the guards]?”

The woman told the police that they could detain her if they wished. At least she could charge her phone at the police station. The police said it was impossible to charge her phone at the police station.

In the end, the police offered a sensible option to the hurt and distraught woman by taking her home. They told her that the security guards will file charges against her for resisting.

“I didn’t resist,” she told the police. “I will file charges against them for assaulting me.”

Incredibly, all of this could have been avoided with little understanding, which goes a long way in such situations. All it would have taken was to plug the phone into a socket and allow the woman to show her ticket.

It would probably take two to three minutes at the most.

Bye-bye to the racist Eskimo name

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The US owner of Eskimo Pie ice cream will change the product name and marketing because it is derogatory, according to CNN. Foneri Finland, the Finnish company that makes Eskimo ice cream, is expected to follow suit.

“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognize the term is derogatory,” Elizabell Marquez, head of marketing for parent company Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, was quoted as saying in a statement.

Foneri Finland, which produces Eskimo ice cream, said that a name change under consideration for the Finnish ice cream brand name, according to Yle.

“We have identified the issue very thoroughly and it is presently under study [to change the brand name],” said marketing manager Minna Brunberg, who added that social equality is an important value of the company.

While the term “Eskimo” was substituted for Inuit a while back, we don’t go around in Finland, calling the Sámi, “Lapps.”

It’s common respect and such old names that are the product of colonialism and racism.

White supremacy is a bully to put it lightly and does not care if you like what they may call a group. They always do so without permission because they have no respect for the group.

In Finland, we should not be surprised that the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party are the ones crying foul about the issue.

PS parliamentary group leader Ville Tavio tweeted that there are also plans in Finland to change the name of the ice-cream brand because it is derogatory.

“The green-lefts are for certain elated,” he tweeted.

Source: Twitter

Facebook (?? Gia L?c): Let me spit in your face

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Looking like a person from the Far East and not speaking Finnish fluently enough can drag you into a racist incident, like what happened to ?? Gia L?c.

The white Finnish women not only spat at his face but demanded that he speak fluent Finnish since he lives in this country.

These two women and I hope ?? Gia L?c reports them to the police would make perfect cultural ambassadors of Finland and S2 (Finland as a second language) teachers as well.

The Facebook posting was published with permission.