“No matter what the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party does, no matter who it elects as its next chairperson, the shadow of racism will follow it. Even if people like Timo Soini said that the party’s anti-immigration wing was only a minor factor in the 2011 parliamentary election, nothing could be further from the truth. Like a junkie, the PS and its voters need their daily fix of nativist racism sprinkled with anti-EU soundbites.”
In English, we have an expression, a horse’s ass. A horse’s ass is a person who is stupid and looks like a horse’s ass after their statement. Sometimes, a comment that makes you look like a horse’s ass may appear to be months later.
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is Finland’s party that adores former President Donald Trump. Not only that, but they like the autocratic politics of Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán and Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki.
PS parliamentary group leader Ville Tavio went as far as to declare his love for the undemocratic regimes of Poland and Hungary.
Startling revelations – that make the PS leadership look like a horse’s ass – were uncovered in a few books that wrote about the chaotic last days of Trump’s administration.
Continue reading “The Finnish Perussuomalaiset who declared their love to Donald Trump and other autocrats”Without Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party backing, Finland would have never had to read about MP Ano Turtiainen. From spreading racism, Turtiainen is now a staunch anti-vaxxer who believes that the Coronavirus pandemic is a hoax.
From “Pink Floyd” to his accusations to fellow MPs of traitor and committing genocide against the Finns, Turtiainen has come full circle.
One may ask how and who made it possible for Turtiainen to become an MP.
The answer is the PS. The PS gave him the platform. His racist views were ok and a feather in his political cap. The party didn’t even care that Turtianen was being charged and convicted for incting acts of violence against Red Cross-managed asylum reception centers.
The PS is a party that finds strength by spreading racism and romantic nationalism that never existed. In many respects, they are like the cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs commercial below. Instead of Cocoa Puffs, they go cuckoo for migrants.
Just like former US President Donald Trump continues to spread the big lie about election fraud, so do Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho and his party about the threat of immigration and cultural diversity.
Last month’s municipal elections were a disappointment for the party after it had invested resources generously in its copied “Take Finland back” campaign. Opinion polls predicted that the PS would get about 18% of the votes but could only muster 14.5%.
The PS was planning to give the Center Party a black eye but did not succeed since the election setback of the party was smaller than expected.
At a Suomen Arena discussion, Halla-aho clarified that feminists and minorities would have little say in a government headed by the PS.
“We don’t want the type of intersectional feminism thought based on caste categories where a person’s rights and right to speak to do and say things hinges on what kind of victim category he belongs,” said Halla-aho.
Just like Trump’s big lie, we should not be outraged by Halla-aho’s and the PS’ hateful message. We have been forced to hear, like a broken record, the xenophobic message for years.
If it were up to me, I’d encourage the party to show even more its far-right ideology and credentials so that voters could see the threat the PS is to Finnish democracy and our Nordic way of life.
Who is Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party heir-apparent Riikka Purra’s mentor? Is it far-right leader Marine Le Pen of France’s National Rally or UK home secretary hardliner Priti Patel?
Purra got her anti-immigration inspiration from Jussi Halla-aho’s racist blog postings. “If it’s up to me, the Perussuomalaiset will never form part of a government that won’t tighten significantly Finnish immigration policy,” she was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.
Even if she plans to stop Muslim and non-EU asylum seekers from entering Finland, it is doubtful that she will succeed.
Her Islamophobic views are only meant for voter consumption and to provoke others.
What arrogance and bullying on her part. Let’s pick on the most vulnerable people in our society like asylum seekers and push and shove them around like trash so they’ll remain on their knees.
Even if I know Purra will never succeed in molding Finland into her closed and Islamophobic world, I want to send her greetings from the late Toni Morrison, who asks what you would be without racism.
Continue reading “(Migrant Tales, July 9, 2021): A quote for Riikka Purra – “If you can only be tall because someone is on their knees, then you have a serious problem””Should we be surprised that Perussuomalaiset (PS)* first vice president Riikka Purra announced her candidacy for chairperson of the Islamophobic party? Since she is the favorite to win the title, what will change, if anything, after its present chairperson Jussi Halla-aho steps down at next month’s annual meeting?
Purra, does not hide her Islamophobic views, she was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat that the main purpose of the PS is tightening immigration policy.
“If it’s up to me, the Perussuomalaiset will never form part of a government that won’t tighten significantly Finnish immigration policy,” she said.
While her affirmation overflows with populist bravado, the intransigent stance of the PS on immigration and the EU will bring it down in the end. How can it tighten immigration policy as Finland faces an ever-growing labor crunch?
Continue reading “Riikka Purra seeks to lead the Perussuomalaiset party on Islamophobic and anti-EU soundbites. Populism and economic ruin?”“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin (1924-87)
In Finland, we read a lot of studies about racism and discrimination. One recent article by Raster gives a comprehensive view of the issues fueling migrant discrimination and unemployment. Who can forget researcher Akhlaq Ahmad’s study in 2019 showed that Finnish labor markets are racialized and segregated once again?
Write the authors of the Raster essay, Jawaria Khan, Olivia Maury, and Quivine Ndomo: “To conclude, Finland is not a fairyland of equal job opportunities. Instead, as we have argued, there exists a multiplicity of skilled and educated foreigners in Finland who face extensive challenges finding suitable work and means to legally remain in the country. In place of advocating for more, better, brighter talents, we should continue scrutinizing why knowledgeable people already in Finland do not seem to qualify for this pool of expertise. Is the objective to actually import ‘global talent,’ or is it so that only certain predefined figures with the right kind of social, ethnic and geographical background fit the category of ‘talent?'”
Many others don’t dispute that discrimination reinforced by institutional racism continues to be a major challenge. Some sources worth mentioning are: a report by the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman published last year; and the European Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA) study that revealed that of 12 EU countries surveyed, people of African descent experienced in Finland the highest amount of racist harassment.
Moreover, several comprehensive shadow reports published by the European Network Against Racism and the European Islamophobia Report highlight anti-Muslim racism in the country.
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
Aminkeng A. Alemanji, a Cameroonian researcher who defended successfully in October 2016 his doctoral dissertation on anti-racism education, is the closest you will get to critical race theory in Finland.
Even if some link critical race theory to movements like BLM, it has been around for about 40 years.
Critical race theory, like anti-racism education, is vital since we live in an ever-growing diverse society and must consider and give public space through history to other groups.
The lack of anti-racism education has made Finland focus on one group – white middle-class society – at the cost of excluding other groups. Those other groups could even be the Saami and Romany minority.
The rise and normalization of racism in Finland is the best indicator of how starved our education system acknowledges cultural and ethnic diversity.
For me, it means that we live together, and diversity is encouraged, not suppressed and shamed as today.
Apart from giving us a much wider view of our place in Finland, anti-racism education should teach respect for difference and the right of minorities to embrace this country on their own terms.
When we teach our children myths and fables of our history, which usually include the achievements of one group, history is not only the past but the present and future, according to Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale University.
“If what our classrooms give us is the stuff that makes us feel good,” he was quoted as saying in a recent TV interview, “we are being groomed for authoriatarism.”
It would be naive to believe that somehow Finland would not be vulnerable to such autocratic impulses. It is already happening here before our eyes. Even if Finland claims to have the best education system that caters to white middle-class Finns, it has seen the rise of a xenophobic, far-right, and populist party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS).*
The contradictions on how we promote social equality and equity also tell us that we need anti-racism education in Finland.
In English, a snow job means a grand deception. Snow jobs happen year-round in Finland, irrespective of the season. The different excuses, arguments, and counterarguments to justify institutional racism are so common that we do not see them even if they are right under our noses.
A good snow-job spotter and when red lights should start flashing in your head: