If racism is not an idea to be debated but a social ill that we must fight, how do we challenge such cancer if the second biggest party* in parliament is racist? How do you challenge such a party that is hellbent on redefining racism and fascism to suit their aims and with the help of other mainstream parties?
You give them hell!
Some white politicians and people naively believe that there will be a Hollywood ending between the anti-racists and racists. We will kiss and end up living happily ever after. Even President Sauli Niinistö believes so. He and those white Finns who believe and hope for such an ending are what Martin Luther King Jr. warned us of the white moderates.
How some Finns fight racism by claiming they are (sic!) the silent majority. Cartoon by Ville Rantanen.
* The 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.
Racism is not an idea to be debated, it is a social ill that we must fight.
Wouldn’t you know it? One of the whitest countries in Europe, Finland, is afraid of being taken over by Muslims and other people of color. Who else but members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party are pushing these types of conspiracy theories?
The whole idea that one of Europe’s whitest countries is being taken over by people of color reveals Finland’s deep-bedded racism.
Sounding like the far-right marches of Charlottesville in June 2017, where they chanted “Jews will not replace us,” newly elected vice president Riikka Purra and party chairperson Jussi Halla-aho are playing the same vicious tune.
In a Helsingin Sanomat article, a non-issue like white Finns is discussed. Since nothing of this is happening, and therefore it isn’t news, the story is about the racist and mistaken worldviews of PS politicians like Purra.
Trying to raise a storm in a teacup, Purra gives us some lessons about her far-right credentials. She states that when “population changes” the population changes (duh!), but if it changes a lot it means population replacement. She asks in the tweet a question to Helsingin Sanomat: If 70% of Finland’s population would be German, would Finland’s population change or be replaced?
These types of fear-mongering, that whites will become a minority in their own country, is an old theme used in other countries. Even in a 1966 Reader’s Digest article,”Yhdysvaltain todellinen n-sana ongelma,” (The real n-word problem in the United States), warns readers about how major cities in the US will be soon taken over by blacks.
The article reads: “If the current [birth rate] trend continues, n-words will be by 1980 the majority in Detroit, Cleveland, Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis.”
Nothing of the sort happened in 1980 or later. According to the 2010 census, the percentage of black people living in Detroit was 22.8%, Cleveland 20.1%, Baltimore 28.7%, and Chicago 17.0%.
And so what if it happened? Is it that some white people fear being treated the same way they and history have treated minorities like blacks?
Let me put it in the simplest language like in this recent Migrant Tales podcast: “None of us want to be white like you [Halla-aho, Purra, and PS party secretary Simo Grönroos] never mind hold the same racist ideas like you. That would be horrible. However, everyone irrespective of their background is an equal member of society who defines Finnishness in the way he or she wishes. Finnishness does not and will never mean being white.”
Apart from being one of the whitest countries of Europe, Finland has seen over 1.2 million of its nationals emigrate abroad between 1860 and 1999. If all of these emigrants would have stayed in Finland, our population would be today about 7 million.
Moreover, these emigrants that moved mostly to North America before World War 2 and thereafter to Sweden did the most normal and natural thing: they mixed ethnically and culturally with people of other cultures.
Mark my words and read my lips: Finland will be culturally and ethnically diverse because it has always been such a country. Excluding and labeling Others as second-class members of society is what Purra, Halla-aho and the PS are going. They want to build a country where some are more equal than others.
* The 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.
En viitsi analysoida yksityiskohtaisesti Sanna Ukkolan viimeistä Yle-kolumnia “sananvapaudesta”, koska hän ampuu tykillä muurahaisia (siis vähemmistöjen edustajia) eikä vaikuta reilulta.
Kannattaa muistaa, että Ukkola on perussuomalaisten Matias Turkkilan vaimo. Varmasti Ukkolalla kotona riittääkin puhetta Turkkilan kanssa maahanmuuttajista ja muista vähemmistöistä, onhan Turkkila perussuomalaisten Suomen Uutisten vastaava päätoimittaja.
Ukkolan
viimeisin kolumni on hyvä esimerkki siitä, kuinka maahanmuuton
vastustajat ja populistit huijaavat lukijoita: sanotaan niin älyttömiä
väitteitä, että ne varmasti uppoavat kansaan ja saavat huomiota.
Kolumnin julkaiseminen Ylen sivuille kertoo, että Ylekin on vajoamassa populistien suohon.
Lue alkuperäinen kolumni tästä.Sanna Ukkola ennen ja nyt. Lähde: Yle.
Migrant Taleswrote Monday a piece about the catastrophic election result of the Danish People’s Party (DPP) this month and why the result sent shivers up the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS)* spine.
In early June, the DPP saw its popularity nosedive by 12.4 percentage points to 8.7% (16 MPs) from 21.1%(37 MPs) previously.
The PS and DPP are cosy ideological allies.
Certainly, the result in Denmark shows that populist anti-immigration parties are immortal and vulnerable and can be beaten in their own Islamophobic game.
Another matter it shows is that issues like climate change, which explains the rise in popularity of the Greens, is taking over immigration as a top concern of voters.
Islamophobia and xenophobia have their limits, too. You can tighten immigration policy to the extreme but where will it take you? Is the final phase using boxcars to transport people to concentration camps?
The firely Islamophobic langauge and aims of the Danish People’s Paty.
It may well be that immigration in the next parliamentary election in Finland in 2022, which is a pet topic of the PS, may be taken over by climate change.
If I were a member of the PS, I would be worried, very worried about the future of the party.
Doesn’t the PS deny climate change?
This will not go down well with the voters.
* The 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.
After the good showing of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* in April’s parliamentary election, it is surprising how little media attention the national media gave to the dismal showing of the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party (DPP) in this month’s election in Denmark. The DPP, which is a close ideological ally of the PS, lost 21 of its seats to end up with 16 seats.
“It’s great that the Danish People’s Party suffered such a loss in the election and it is a new chapter in Danish politics,” a Danish Muslim told Migrant Tales.
The election in Denmark was significant for two reasons: It showed that if traditional parties use the same anti-immigration rhetoric of populist parties they can win elections; populist parties can be beaten in their own Islamophobic game.
Apart from cries by PS vice chairperson Riikka that the party will win the next parliamentary election, the result in Denmark must have sent shivers up hers and the party’s spine.
What is worrying about the Social Democratic election victory in Denmark, and the defeat of the DPP, is that it may offer Finland’s Social Democrats an option to take the wind out of the PS’ sails.
Looking at the ever-anti-immigration rhetoric of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), it is already happening.
The rise of populism and anti-immigration parties in the Nordic region reveal that racism is a powerful political force and that present politicians are at a loss on how to confront it or, possibly, don’t care to challenge it.
* The 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.
In Finland, there are parties and groups whose sole aim is to defend Finnish white supremacy, a concocted lie to justify one’s racism and oppress and exclude people of color.Who are these groups and how do they operate?
In Finland, there are parties and groups whose sole aim is to defend Finnish white supremacy, a concocted lie to justify one’s racism and oppress and exclude people of color.
The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity (Suomalaisuuden liitto), responsible for whitewashing cultural diversity in Finland, and Suomen Sisu are prime examples. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo), Finnish Criminal Police (KRP), academics, and the Council for the Mass Media (JSN), labeled Suomen Sisu a “Nazi spirited” association.
“The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to awaken and strengthen knowledge and the way of thinking as well as in every way promote Finnishness, especially Finnish-language based culture. ” The statement should, however, read: “The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to whitewash diversity in Finland by promoting Finnish white culture.”
Finland’s second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* is where these far-right ethnonationalist groups have found a platform and springboard to expand and normalize their ideology.
One matter that unites them ideologically is that they live in a cultural time warp where culture remains near-stagnant and is under threat by migration and minorities.
Suomen Sisu’s mission statement reads: “Finnishness cannot be redefined, it can only be maintained and developed, or it will be displaced.”
While Suomen Sisu, an association that is openly against Finns marrying and hostile to non-Finns, has caused little outrage and is a source of concern.
Whenever you talk about your group as “a tribe” you start to flirt or flirt with racism. The PS Youth, which had their funds cut this year due to a racist tweet, is a prime example.
The logo of the association gives the impression that Finnish women walked around in ethnic costumes at a time where many people could not afford proper clothing.
The PS Youth’s logo. White women and romanticism for a period where most Finns could not afford to have Finnish costumes. Source: Perussuomalaiset nuoret.
The PS held on Saturday its annual congress where it reelected Jussi Halla-aho as their chairperson and three vice presidents, Arja Juvonen, Riikka Purra, and Juha Eerola.
While Halla-aho and all of the vice presidents of the party have built their political careers on the anti-immigration message, its newly elected party secretary, Simo Gönroos, is a member of the ethnonationalist Suomen Sisu and the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity.
Apart from his anti-immigration stance, Grönroos is the executive director of the Suomen Perusta Foundation, whose aim is to “prove” that immigration is costly and harmful to Finland.
Grönroos, an ethnonationalist to the core, was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat by giving his views of Finnishness and Finnish identity. He stated that “the starting point is that one is born a Finn.”
Then he offers a typical Halla-aho interpretation to justify the latter claim.
“If a Finn moved to Somalia, he will not become a Somali,” he reasoned. “If a Somali moves to Finland, he will not become a Finn even if he could be a Finnish citizen.”
This is exactly the same copy-and-paste response that Halla-aho gave in a YLE interview in February. “If I would for some reason go to Somalia and become a Somali citizen would that make me a Somali,” he asked.
In the search for terms to maintain white Finnish supremacy, Halla-aho, like Grönroos, want to separate so-called “ethnic” or white Finn from Finn just like the terms English from British.
“The question who is a Finn is [an] interesting [question],” Halla-aho was quoted as saying in the YLE interview. “The problem is that in Finnish we don’t have a term that classifies who is an ethnic Finn and a Finnish citizen.”
If the above isn’t an example of white Finnish supremacy and relegating Other groups as second-class members of society living as eternal outsiders without history, nothing is.
A clarification to Halla-aho and Grönroos: None of us want to be white like you never mind hold the same racist views as you. That would be horrible. However, everyone, irrespective of their background, is an equal member of society that defines Finnishness in the way he or she wishes. Finnishness does not and never will mean being white.
In order to understand how misplaced Halla-aho’s and Grönroos’ views are, we could apply them to countries like the United States, Canada, Argentina, and others.
The result: Minorities and Other groups would be outraged because it is justifying the whitewashing of their history and white supremacist ideology.
* The 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 nativistnationalism 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.
“Mikäs mies tuo Enriikke Tessieeri on olevinaan? En oikein tykästynyt miehen teksteihin, tuntui vähän siltä että näppäimistöön kajotessaan Enriquella on alkanut pyryttää pahemman kerran.
Eipä sillä, varmasti Suomessa on syrjintää, ryssävihaa, sovinismia ynnämuuta, mutta mitä sitten? Eikö niitä voitaisi jo laskea suomalaiseen kulttuuriin, on niistä niin kauan valitettu. Ja kun ne olisivat virallisesti meidän kulttuuriamme, voisimme vedota silmät vetistäen tiedostaviin tahoihin että meidän kulttuuriamme on suojeltava maahanmuuttajien vastaavalta. Se luultavasti toimisi….Ai ei?”
Migrant Taleswrote on Monday about an Iraqi family with two children aged 6 and 5 that were evicted from the Kemi asylum reception center and given five days room and board by the city. The family left Kemi and went to Tampere, where the city gave them room and board.
The father was desperate on Monday and feared that his family would be thrown in the street penniless after Kemi offered room and board for five days.
“I am very worried,” he was quoted as saying. “I don’t know what to do and what will happen to us.”
Asylum seekers (from left to right): the father, son, daughter, and wife.
The story about the fate of the family attracted a lot of attention and Tweets on Twitter. The Red Cross promised to get in touch with the family, which had left Kemi for Tampere on Wednesday.
We are grateful that our efforts helped to alleviate the family’s problems for now.
A friend of the family said that the family “is ok” but could not say for how long they would get room and board.
