Shirlene Green Newball talks with Rami Thawi, a musician who has lived in many countries from Venezuela to Syria to Finland now. What inspires him to compose music and be from many places simultaneously. Rami songs are full of power and expose the challenges and power of being from many places.
There is one matter that makes my blood boil when there is a clear case of racist behavior, but the person hearing it, who can be your boss, remains silent, hoping that the uncomfortable situation passes over and returns to “normal.”
“Back to normal” in this case means that nothing has changed and challenged. Matters will remain as they are. Get over it.
A good example of how strong institutional racism is in Finland is a Council for Mass Media (JSN) ruling against Järviradio for playing (April 6) a racist song by Irwin Godman called “Sand n-word and n-word clown.”
The song, which is shamelessly racist and offensive to brown and black people in Finland, was released in 1989. It has been seen on YouTube three million times.
One wonders why these types of songs are played on Youtube.
To add more salt to injury, the Järviradio commentator played the song on the request from a listener who said, “The Perussuomalaiset* are taking back Finland.”
Another coating of populist racism.
If the radio commentator should have known better that Goodman’s song is racist and inappropriate, which the JSN ruling reinforced, the editor of Järviradio, Markku Mäenpää, appears clueless.
Mäenpää said that he has no opinion about the song or the lyrics.
The only reason why Mäenpää does not have an opinion about Goodman’s racist song is that he does not think the lyrics are racist and offensive even after 30 years when the song was released.
Mäenpää’s statement is a shameful example of how institutional racism and prejudices find protection and see another day in Finland.
Goodman’s songs are racist, and his opinions about migrants only reinforce that he was multiculturally challenged.
One of his “hit” songs was “Marcello Magaroni.”
See also:
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
The tragedy that took place Tuesday in Kuopio, which claimed the life of a person and left ten injured, including the suspect, raises a lot of questions. One of these is if we should treat what happened as a terrorist act or just some mentally troubled lone wolf?
The National Board of Investigation (Keskusrikospoliisi) Detective Chief Inspector Olli Töyräs was quoted as saying in Yle that the motive of the crime is still unknown and under investigation. According to the latest information, the police believe that the suspect acted alone and had no ties to organized crime.
The suspect, who was a student at the Savo Vocational School, did not know any of the victims. He allegedly set a fire in the building that was quickly put out.
Helsingin Sanomat reported today that the suspect was not in a relationship with any of the victims.
The reaction of some Finns on social media was disgraceful. Some blamed the attack on a foreigner and appeared to be disappointed when it was confirmed that the suspect was a white Finn.
The Perussuomalaiset*, which specializes in fear-mongering and spreading racist hatred of groups like Muslims, were strangely quiet on Tuesday.
Green Party Interior Minister Maria Ohisalo said that despite what happened in Kuopio, Finland is still one of the safest countries in the world.
True, Minister Ohisalo, but for whom? Remember what happened after the Turku stabbings in August 2017? Migrants and especially Muslims were harassed and attacked and blamed by white Finns for the stabbings. If the attacker in Kuopio were a Muslim, what type of violence would be unleashed against non-white Finns and migrants?
Would Ohisalo reassure us then that Finland is one of the safest counties in the world?
Even without these types of crimes, Finland is not a safe country for too many migrants, especially people of color.
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
On my daily walk, I saw a number of far-right vigilante group Soldiers of Odin stickers last week on lampposts. This evening, I encountered two neo-Nazi Kansallinen vapaustaistelu* stickers in Mikkeli. They ended up having the same fate as the Soldiers of Odin stickers.
*Unofficial translation: National Struggle for Freedom.
The Finnish city of Kuopio tragically witnessed the death of a person and 10 others injured at the Savo Vocational College, The Guardian reported, citing the local media and police. Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go to the victims of the incident.
The East Finland Police tweeted earlier today that the suspect is “a native-born Finnish citizen.” Is this the reason why there is silence from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party?
Checking the Facebook pages of Islamophobic PS politicians like Sebastian Tynkyynen, Mauri Peltokangas, Jussi Halla-aho, Riikka Purra, to only name a few, there is absolute silence.
The fact that the PS does not even send condolences to the victims in Kuopio shows and exposes in the raw their hypocrisy.
If the suspect would have been a Muslim, it would be a different story. Using the same narrative of the Islamophobes, should we ask why Finns kill people and why aren’t Finns denouncing this form of violence collectively?
Shouldn’t we treat such a person as a suspected terrorist? Or do the PS see him as a lone wolf?
The PS’ language and rhetoric incite and legitimize violence against migrants, especially people of color. The usage of such violent language resembles a flat tire: You must pump it constantly with hate in order for the tire to have air.
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
Syvimmät osanottoni väkivallanteon uhreille.
Se sabe ya desde hace mucho tiempo que los senegaleses que viven en la Argentina son discriminados y hasta brutalmente tratados por las fuerzas del “orden” público. Así pasó otra vez en los barrios porteños de Flores y Once donde, según Megafón, hubo más de mil senegaleses fueron detenidos.
Todo esto huele a algo mal y la pregunta que deberíamos hacer es ¿por qué la justicia porteña ordenó ahora el allanamiento en un domicilio (Alsina 2677) donde viven trabajadores ambulantes senegaleses?
¿Es una coincidencia que la Argentina tendrá el 27 de octubre elecciones presidenciales, por diputados y por senadores? Es una coincidencia que el jefe de gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, pertenece al mismo partido que Mauricio Macri?
Escribe una residente de Buenos Aires:
Escribe Megafón: “Ingresaron efectivos policiales con muchísima violencia y desde organizaciones de trabajadores de la calle y organismos de derechos humanos, denuncia una clara persecución del gobierno de Horacio Rodríguez Larreta contra los inmigrantes.”
La Argentina no sólo tiene una larga y rica historia de inmigración europea sino, también, una parte de nuestra historia blanqueada es de los afroargentinos y pueblos originarios.
A comienzos del siglo XIX, un tercio de la población de la Argentina fue negra, según el historiador John Lynch.
No es la primera vez que los seguidores del Presidente Macri usan mano dura contra inmigrantes vulnerables como los africanos, los bolivianos, los peruanos, entre otros grupos.
El trato a los senegaleses es una vergüenza que debería ser fuertemente condenado.
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
The snap elections in Austria saw the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) suffer a blistering defeat with the number of MPs plummeting by 37.3% to 32 from 51. Sebastian Kurz of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) was the biggest winner getting 38.4% of the popular vote and gaining 11 MPs to 73 MPs.
FPÖ vice-chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache and his ministers were forced to resign in May after a video published by two German newspapers offered damaging evidence of him allegedly offering government contracts in return for political support from Moscow.
Even if the FPÖ got clobbered in the election, minorities such as Muslims are worried about Kruz’ anti-Muslim rhetoric. “He did not understand that repeating hardline anti-immigrant rhetoric in a nicer tone does not defeat far-right populists,” said Nina Horaczek, an investigative reporter at Falter, who was quoted in NPR. “It makes them stronger.”
Even if 2019 was supposed to be the year when far-right parties break down the election door, the Danish People’s Party, which is a close ideological ally of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, lost 21 of its seats in July to end up with 16 seats in that country’s parliamentary elections.
The PS, in which the Danish election result sent shivers up the party’s spine, its political message under the leadership of Jussi Halla-aho is entrenched in far-right and radical-right ideology.
The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn and Matteo Salvini’s Lega Nord have suffered as well political setbacks in 2019.
Copying the tactics of Lega Nord’s Salvini in giving firey Islamophobic messages, the PS has used the same rhetoric to gain support. Such violent language against minorities is like a flat bicycle tire: You must pump it constantly for air to remain in the tire.
The ever-Islamophobic and racist language of the PS not only continue to fuel the hostile environment but directly incites and legitimizes violence against migrants and minorities.
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
Migrant Tales insight: This short letter to the Finnish public is an example of Finland’s inhumane immigration policy. As a refugee, you will get a residence permit, but the price will be a high one: You will have to live alone, separated indefinitely from your loved one.
The Syrian refugee story is one of the many cruel faces of the Finnish Immigration Service.
“I got married on 2015 before an almost 7 months of leaving my country to Finland.
After that I got resident permit and applied for family reunification so I coul live together with my beloved wife. After almost a year and a half wait, my wife got an appointment at the Finnish embassy in Beirut (because my wife can’t visit Turkey as a Syrian ); after that, we had to wait almost another year for a decision from Migration (The Finnish Immigration Service) which was negative. I was devasated and lost as my wife was too but a social worker told me to contact a lawyer which she gave me his name and number. The social worker said he is a very good lawyer.
I went to him and he said, after reading the decision, that migration has some doubts about your marriage. He said that he will write them my answers to dispell these doubts and everything will be fine.
But also after waiting some months a second negative decision came. I was totally broken and told the social worker and lawyer about this. I said that I will go back to my country because I can’t waste my life and lose my wife specially after I lived with her and loved her dearly long before we were married. The social worker and lawyer calmed me down and ensured me that it was another mistake by migration and the lawyer will write another appeal to the high court, which will rule in my favor. After waiting for 10 months, the high cout overturned my appeal.
Before this, my lawyer advised me that if I wanted I could meet my wife in another country and bring some pictures with plane tickets for both of us, hotel booking and send it to the court. I was able to see my wife for the first time since 2015, when I came to Finland.
I can’t describe how bad is my psychological situation and my wife telling me that I have to go back to Syria because we don’t have any hope. My problem is that it is impossible for me to go back to Syria because of the bad situation there. Our problem, our separation, got worse because living without my soulmate was hard.
I can’t focus on my studies or anything else. I feel dead inside.
I’m doing everything possible to bring her to my side in Finland. Maybe I have to go back to Syria, even if I will die there.”
Jos olet valkoinen suomalainen (ei kaksoiskansalaisia, please!) ja sinulla on siniset silmät, niin ota yhteyttä.
