I rebel, then I exist. Albert Camus (1913-60)
By Enrique Tessieri
The news coming out of our television sets in recent months show protests in the Arab world, Greece and recently in London. Similar demonstrations have sparked in Chile and Israel. Despite differences between these protests, the message is the same: We don’t trust our traditional rulers any longer.
In which form these mass protests appear differ from country to country. On April 17 we saw such a protest in Finland, when the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) party won 39 seats from 5 in the last election in 2007.
The PS victory has the same message as other ones globally: It is a big thumbs down to the country’s traditional parties and rulers.
Migrant Tales has said on many occasions that there is nothing wrong with protesting and fighting for the rights of others. However, if you link racism and xenophobia to “your struggle” you water down the noble message of your movement.
It would be naïve and short-sighted to think that just because the PS won a big victory in April, they will continue to collect the fruits of discord. Since immigrant groups and parties like the Greens and others now see a clear adversary, the PS, it means that they are growing in strength as well.
French sociologist Alain Trouaine has studied social movements for a very long time, ranging from the May Movement of Paris in 1968 to the Solidarity movement of Poland in the 1980s.
Social movement, according to him, “are central and burn at the heart of society.” In other words, social movements permit society to renew itself. This happens constantly.
One social movement in the making made up of immigrants and Finns could be Minun Suomeni on kansainvälinen – My Finland is International on Facebook.
What is remarkable about this Facebook page is that it already has the ability to mobilize demonstrations thanks to its over 45,000 “friends.”
Those who ask why immigrants and Multicultural Finns are hardly acknowledged, have no history or exist for the majority of Finns ask key questions about how larger groups exclude smaller ones.
If immigrants and Multicultural Finns don’t have a history or a nascent one at the best in Finland, how can they ever aspire to demand more rights never mind control and shape historicity? Since a group doesn’t have any history or very little of it recognized by the majority it means that it does not effectively exist. It is a bit like the debate on whether there is racism in Finland. By denying that there is racism are we affirming that we are not a culturally diverse society?
That is why I believe that one of the consequences of the rise of the PS will be more vocal social movements led by immigrants and Finns that will struggle and fight for greater recognition and acceptance by society.
“That is why I believe that one of the consequences of the rise of the PS will be more vocal social movements led by immigrants and Finns that will struggle and fight for greater recognition and acceptance by society.”
And when immigrants start demanding things they are in no rational way entitled to, PS-party will gain even more support.
Problem is above all else IMMIGRANT racism, which you are prime example of.
Immigrants refusing to accept that Finland is Finnish nation, with Finnish way of life and Finnish being the primary language.
Immigrants have to adapt to existing Finland, instead of being racists and demanding that Finns must be made adapt to immigrants.
PS-party and immigration critical thinking will gain massive support every time immigrants and “multicultural” Finns decide that they want to push their own form of racism upon majority Finns. And that is what we are talking about. Demand that immigrants must be given special treatment, special attention and Finns must pay for everything.
Oh Tiwaz. What a load of crap coming from you once again. People like you disgust me. Your logic is the same one that blames the woman for being raped because she was drunk and wearing a short skirt.
Finland is international and it will remain that way as long as our companies make money in the rest of the world and as long as our employees come from everywhere in the world. As much as it breaks your sensitive little heart, some of us marry foreigners and yes, we even have little brown babies that come out looking like Jani Toivola or Lola Odusogo and if our children face any form of discrimination from the likes of you, you can be damn sure we’ll do something about it.
Go back to school and get some education.
Hi BlandaUpp and welcome to our blog, Migrant Tales. Thank you for sharing you view with us. I especially liked what you said: “…if our children face any form of discrimination from the likes of you, you can be damn sure we’ll do something about it.” After the PS victory in April, there are many, many immigrants, Multicultural Finns and Finns who are fed up with the one-sided hate speech that we’ve seen in public. Each person in Finland and Europe and can do his or her part by standing up to racism and exclusion.
Silence can never be the answer.
I have high respect for the Netherlands. They are a multicultural society, and although their native language is Dutch, many organizations (if not all) in the Netherlands have English as a working language. Of course, their mentality is different. They know that business opportunities are out there and they develop opportunities for everybody living in that country. They know that the rest of the planet does not gravitate around Dutch culture and language. What a pity that Finland is so self-centred country, with low self esteem. Almost behaving like a under developed nation! Finland, Finland….. Finland…..go to the rest of the planet, see new things and develop new ideas and opportunities. And not for the foreigners living here: for your OWN people!!!!
To all of you multicultuaral Marxist Finns.remember a Somalian refugee man by the name Abdigadir Osman Hussein?Some of you Finns know of him and what he did.If you don’t know who he is then google his name and you will find out.I agree with Tiwaz about how immigrants don’t want to assimlate in to Finnish culture and don’t care about Finnish history and cuisine and they want the Finnish citizens to adapt to their(Muslim/Islamic)culture.Why do you Multicultural Finns want to make Finnish history and culture irrelevant?Sweden is the same way.You multicultural Finns should be proud of your white heritage.It was your Finnish ancestors that made Finland what is is today.Just think that if Joseph Stalin had been successful in conquering Finland,there would not be any of this multiculturalism in present day Finland.
Hi Arrow town2011, welcome to our blog. I think it is quite incredible that every time one non-Finn does something the whole group is labelled but if it is a mass killer like Breivik, he is then a lone psycopath.
You can believe wha you want, but the fact remains: Muslims and many other groups have Finland as their home. Instead of blaming these groups for not integrating, why not take a good look at yourself in the mirror and ask if you are part of the problem.
The Netherlands? Excellent example indeed:
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2219/netherlands-abandons-multiculturalism
Did they all of a sudden create “low self esteem” ?
Allan, you know as well as I do that all this does not make any sense. What does it mean that supposedly the Netherlands has abandoned multiculturalism? Do you mean the policy? Does it mean that the Dutch are going to collectively stick their heads in the sand and deny that there are immigrants in their country? Or do you mean multiculturalism in the same vein as some PS: only a social policy that lets in Muslims and Africans to Finland and Europe.
Allan,of course not! Dutch have been captured by political parties like the PS party and their discourse of hate and discrimination. Although another explanation might be what The Times has called the End of Europe. But not as you think the end by an invasion of aliens, nope. The End of Europe meaning the end of that farce that Europeans have tried to sell of themselves to the rest of the world, that they are the owners of outstanding values and respect towards others civilizations … perhaps we are now seeing (again) what we can read in history books
Hi BoredinFinland, an excellent point you made about our “high values.” We had the same problem when we were ripping off the world through colonialization. We were supposed to be the epitome of civilization and high values. Then came World War I, II and…
´I agree with Tiwaz about how immigrants don’t want to assimlate in to Finnish culture and don’t care about Finnish history and cuisine and they want the Finnish citizens to adapt to their(Muslim/Islamic)culture´
please dont mix all the cultures with the only one that refuses to assimilate…
its aleaws the same debate anyway. Most of the far right parties around Europe are NOT anti immigration but against demographic and cultural substitution. So they target only one cultural group, the one that refuses to assimilate and tries to impose its own culture.
http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2011/08/researcher_finns_now_more_critical_of_islam_2815628.html
an interesting article