Author: Migrant Tales

Reija Härkönen: Kun arvot vaihtuvat, poliittinen eläin siivoaa pesänsä ja jättää kaverinsa

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”On naiivia kuvitella, että hyvin erilaisesta kulttuurista tuleva henkilö rajan ylitettyään omaksuu suomalaisen yhteiskunnan arvot ja käytöskoodin. Suomalainen maan tapa ei ole kaikkien mielestä maailman paras. Joku toinen pitää irakilaista, venäläistä tai kiinalaista tapaa kaikkein parhaana.”

”Suomessa joko pidetään kiinni esimerkiksi sukupuolten tasa-arvosta ja työpaikkojen pätevyysvaatimuksista tai sitten niistä aletaan lipsua eri verukkeilla suvaitsevaisuuden tai kulttuurirelativismin nimissä. Vuosikymmenien tasa-arvotyötä ei voi heittää hukkaan. ”

”Kotoutuminen Suomeen vaatii monenlaisia asioita. Suomen on tarjottava apua kielen, kulttuurin, lakien ja yhteiskuntatiedon oppimiseen, mutta maahanmuuttajan itsensä on haluttava kotoutua.”

Maria Lohela Sebastian Tynkkynen

Ne jotka ovat seuranneet maahanmuuttajavastaista keskustelua viime vuosina, huomaavat tietyt perushokemat: erilaisesta kulttuurista tuleva ei voi sopeutua, tasa-arvo on menetetty, koska tietyt maahanmuuttajat eivät hyväksy tasa-arvoa, maahanmuuttajia kyllä yritetään kotouttaa, mutta eivät he halua.

Otteet ovat Maria Lohelan blogitekstistä 31.1.2016. Se oli yksi niistä teksteistä, joilla Lohela tapasi pitää lämpimänä suhdettaan perussuomalaisten rasistisimpaan, ns. halla-aholaiseen siipeen. Vaikka puhemiehen nuijan haltijat ovat tavanneet luopua päivänpolitiikasta, Lohelalle maahanmuuttajavastainen teema on selvästi ollut niin läheinen, että sitä on ollut vaikea pidätellä jopa Suomen protokollan toiseksi korkeimmassa tehtävässä. Rasistisen politiikan jatkaminen suoraan eduskunnan ytimestä on ollut suuri häpeä Suomelle ja outo teko Lohelan valinneilta kansanedustajilta.

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Defining white Finnish privilege #38: Cultural appropriation and racism are quaint discussion topics between white Finns

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Sanna Ukkola is a YLE journalist who has stuck her foot in her mouth a number of times. Hosting Pressiklubi on Friday was a clear example when she put on an Amerindian feather hairpiece and showed a clip of Pekka ja Pätkä blackfaces to the audience. 

While she excused herself for wearing the hairpiece, the whole talk show was a fiasco and an embarrassment to YLE. Is cultural appropriation ok? We don’t know because the talk show didn’t take a clear stand on the issue.

Two of the guests, Matti Virtanen, a Talouselämä journalist, and conservative National Coalition Party councilman, Tere Sammallahti, added more injury to pain with their comments about cultural appropriation. The other guest was Left Alliance chairwoman Li Anderson, who disagreed with almost everything that the two other guests said.

Virtanen claimed that it was ok for Miss Helsinki candidates to wear the hairpiece because it was a copy and therefore didn’t insult anyone.

Yes, right, Virtanen. You have privilege and power to make such a point but not the moral authority because you are white.

Meet the candidates who are vying to be crowned Miss Helsinki. Source: Tämä päivä.

If Virtanen and Ukkola stuck their foots in their mouths, Sammallahti ended up with a Frankenstein shoe in his.

See original tweet by Outi Länsman here.

“Now that I have a 1.5-year-old boy child at home,” he said, “I hope he won’t have to grow up in a work where he’s made to feel guilty for being born white and, probably, heterosexual.”

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Facebook Ahti Tolvanen: Is terrorism a real threat to Finland?

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We have just heard in the news today that Supo has received funding to hire 50 more personnel this year to fight terrorism.

The above would lead one to think terrorism is a major problem in Finland. The only known case of possible terrorism in recent memory in this country relates to a knife attack in Turku this summer where a young Moroccan asylum seeker attacked people randomly in the street, killing two women and wounding 9 people with a knife.

Although this murderer is now charged with terrorism the proof of this which has been made public is rather sketchy. He apparently published a statement on a private site on the net which has not been made public. Witnesses say he also expressed support for radical ideas of jihadist groups and read their postings on the internet. So far no violent group has come out saying he is a member or even supporter. It is not at all certain that when the case goes to court there will be a terrorist conviction.

Beyond this case there was a very interesting case reported in Iltalehti 16/17.9. with the front page headline “Poliisi esti Suomessa iskun poliitisiin päättäjiin”. The story inside names none of the possibly arrested “terrorists” nor does in name any politicians who might have been threatened. The only sources named in the story are high-ranking police officers. Nothing more has come out in over a week after this story was published. One explanation may be that the police have investigative reasons for not mentioning anyone involved. The other explanation might be that nothing like what was described even happened.

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Tigthening immigration and asylum policy is putting a noose around our Nordic values

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I spoke this week to a Syrian refugee who got his residence to stay in Finland. He said that his wife and two children are living abroad and cannot come to Finland (because he isn’t working). He stated that he hadn’t been with his wife and children for two years.

After tightening family reunification laws last year, Center Party parliamentary group leader MP Antti Kaikkonen believes that the government has gone too far in tightening immigration policy, according to Lahti-based daily Etelä-Suomen Sanomat. The Center Party believes that the 2,600-euro/month salary requirement to bring your spouse and two children should be changed. 

The suggestion by Kaikkonen has received a flat no from the Blue Reform (“New Perussuomalaiset”*) party that defected in June from the “Old” Perussuomalaiset (PS) party to not lose their ministerial posts since the Center Party and National Coalition Party would not have accepted the PS under Jussi Halla-aho in government.

Halla-aho, who has built his political career on Islamophobia, was convicted In 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion.

As we have seen recently, the tightening of Finnish immigration and asylum policy has not only succeeded in killing our empathy for the suffering of others but showed what novices our politicians and decision-makers are when it comes to migration and cultural diversity. We have done great harm to our own values and sense of justice with the tightening of such laws.

The case of the Syrian man who lives in despair because he hasn’t been with his family for two years is not the only case.

When Finns emigrated in mass to North America before World War 2, they not only brought their families but their relatives, neighbors, and friends. The more, the merrier!

Blue Reform MP Simon Elo gives the thumbs down to Kaikkonen’s proposal of loosening family reunification guidelines. Source: Facebook.

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Defining white Finnish privilege #37: The master of near-everything

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What do independent government agencies like the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman, Ombudsman for Equality, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Discrimination and Equality Tribunal have in common?  All of them protect and defend the rights of women and minorities in Finland.

Another matter that these government agencies have in common is that minorities are underrepresented and that too few of us use their services.

One of the reasons could be ignorance and mistrust. Trust and credibility aren’t helped by the fact that few if any visible minorities are staffers in such bodies.

Another factor that doesn’t help is that in Finland women’s and minorities’ rights are defended by different agencies. In Sweden and Norway, women’s and minorities’ rights are protected by one agency.

While there are many dedicated people working for these bodies, one wonders if it is in their interest to splinter such an important issue in our society into four different bodies.

Finnish white privilege #37

One of the most important goals that migrants, minorities, and representatives of our culturally diverse community should strive for is more representation and say in these agencies.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Unspeakable politicians and their own gain

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White Finns rarely consult migrants and minorities on anything important. They may ask them their opinion on x and y but the final decision on policy is made by them because you don’t really count. And then there are people like Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Timo Soini, Wille Rydman, and many others who pour gasoline and stoke the fires of ethnic hatred in this country. It is unspeakable that they do so for their own gain. 

Timo Soini telling an Old Perussuomalaiset racist to behave. at the end of the day, Soini got his fingers burned and ejected from the party. If there is a person who gave fascism, racism, homophobia, and sexism a platform in this country, that person is Soini.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. Both could be called the “new” and “old” PS. 

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.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Lack of empathy

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The lack of empathy by politicians and the government for the suffering of vulnerable groups like asylum seekers came to light again when two refugees stabbed themselves in protest of Finland’s asylum policy. Lack of empathy is the first step or reminder that our society is dysfunctional and in trouble. War now seems a possibility. 

“Old” Perussuomalaiseet* MP Tom Packalén with his shined shoes and is total lack of empathy, a national illness these days. Cartoon by Sira Moksi.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. Both could be called the “new” and “old” PS. 

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.

Twitter (Reija Härkönen): MTV ja Halla-ahon osat 1-7

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MTVn toimituspäällikkö Ilkka Ahtiainen väittää: “Vakaumuksemme on, että kirjoitukset ovat osaltaan edistäneet tosiasioihin pohjaavaa ja moniarvoista yhteiskunnallista keskustelua. Parhaassa tapauksessa tämä hillitsee vastakkainasettelua, johon netin maailmassa on niin kovin helppo sortua.”

Niin Ahtiainen, mediaedustajat kuten MTV on ollut tärkeässä roolissa välittämässä vihaa maahanmuuttajien ja vähemmistöjen kohtaan.

Kuinka Halla-aho vihapuhe meitä vastaan voi hillitä vastakkainasettelua?

Puhutte noin koska edustatte valtaa ja etuoikeuksia.

Tässä ovat Reija Härkösen twiittiä osat 1-7…

 

 

Osa 1

Osa 2

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