Enrique Tessieri Archives - Page 138 of 245

EU-MIDIS II: White Europe’s tacit approval and silence of ethnic discrimination

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Should we be surprised by a new EU-MIDIS II report that concludes that discrimination of people of Sub-Sharan African origin suffered the most discrimination in Luxembourg and Finland (50% and 45%, respectively)? Matters aren’t that rosy elsewhere either. People with North African backgrounds endured the most discrimination in the Netherlands (49%), and the Roma reported the most discrimination in countries like Greece and Portugal (48% and 47%, respectively).

Contrarily, the report revealed that the lowest rates of discrimination by respondents were people of Russian origin living in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (7%, 6%, and 4%, respectively).

Finland has published in the past quite a few comprehensive studies about different ethnic and national groups like the Somalis. The EU-MIDIS II findings, however, are by no means a surprise.

Read the full report here.

Touko Aalto, the chairperson of the Greens, is the only politician in Finland who commented on the EU-MIDIS II report.

“Today there’s been news about the latest EU report, which claims that is is one of the most prejudiced countries in Europe,” Aalto wrote on his Facebook wall. “The non-discrimination ombudsman [Kirsi Pimiä] commented that the [EU-MIDIS II] report is a clear indication that there is a lot of racism in Finland.”

Even if we know that racism is a social ill that affects a lot of migrants and minorities, especially from Sub-Saharan Africa, the big question is what is the government going to do, if anything? At this moment, Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s government has had a dismal record on racism.

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Exposing white Finnish privilege #44: Defending Nazis’ rights to march is ok as long we agree on the common enemy

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Jan Vapaavuori is the mayor of Helsinki who wrote the following on his Facebook wall below about Nazis marching in Helsinki on Independence Day:

“I strongly disagree with the ideologies and practices of the far right and far left. Even these groups have rights in a free country (fatherland). The rule of law is the most important foundation of our society. Tolerance means that you also tolerate those you strongly disagree with, even if you hoped that this types of movements didn’t exist.”

Visit Jan Vapaavuori’s Facebook wall here.

Fine. Helsinki Mayor Vapaavuori, who is a member of the conservative National Coalition Party, claims that even Nazis have in our “free” society the right to express themselves. Christian Thibault, a long-time anti-racism activist, responds to the mayor’s statement below:

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Ignite #metooracism campaign

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Migrant Tales

It’s encouraging to see how people in power are coming down in flames for sexual harassment. Wouldn’t it be great if we could apply sexual harassment to racist harassment and spark a similar movement? Silence and inaction are the reasons why sexual harassment happens with near-impunity. It’s the same story why racism continues to occur on such a massive scale.

The Harvey Weinsteins and Donald Trumps of the sexual harassment are the Marine Le Pens, Geert Wilders and Viktor Orbans of racism. In Finland, they come with the names of Timo Soini, Jussi Halla-aho, and Laura Huhtasaari.

Let’s change that now

#metooracism

Emboldened by Judd, Rose McGowan and a host of other prominent accusers, women everywhere have begun to speak out about the inappropriate, abusive and in some cases illegal behavior they’ve faced. Read the full story here.

Wouter Van Bellingen: Black Pete is an aberration that will become history

Posted on December 6, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Wouter Van Bellingen, 45, is a Flemish human rights’ activist who has fought for racial justice in Belgium. One of the issues that he has challenged is the racist legacy of Black Pete (or Zwarte Piet). Apart from issues like cultural appropriation and disrespect for minorities like blacks, the United Nations declared in 2015 that Black Pete was a “vestige of slavery.”

Elected in 2007 as the deputy mayor of Sint-Niklaas, Van Bellingen became the first black deputy mayor of Belgium. Presently is the director of Integration Pact (Integratiepact), an association that promotes integration and inclusion of migrants and minorities in Belgium.

Every year Flemish- and Dutch-speakers celebrate Black Pete from the end of October to December 6.

Van Bellingen remembers as a child and adolescent growing up in Flanders that Black Pete was “mental torture” for him and other black children. Blacks are the most discriminated group in Belgium and at the lower end of the poverty scale. Black Pete reinforces stereotypes about blacks like belittling their intelligence, according to him.

“Since my classmates knew me they didn’t mess with me at school,” said Van Bellingen. “They [white children and adults before] would come up to total strangers and touch your skin and ask if it was going to stain them. It is not a joke. Some believed that our black skin stained theirs.”

Van Bellingen said that when he was a child, he avoided going to stores because total strangers would stop him on the street and yell, “Look Black Pete!”

“I went to see an MP last week, and her daughter, who was of mixed race asked if she could scrub her dark skin and become white,” he said.

Despite the racism that Black Pete brings out in white people who pay homage to this offensive character to blacks and minorities, Van Bellingen says that matters are improving.

“Matters are getting better in Belgium,” he added. “If you looked at the shops five years ago, you could find Black Pete everywhere. I believe it will eventually vanish.”

Van Bellingen said that his children will still have to suffer “the mental torture” he went through, but by the time he has grandchildren, Black Pete character will become history.

“The majority of the people who live in Antwerp have immigrant backgrounds,” he continued. “The majority disapprove of this practice. It will first disappear in Flanders and then in the Netherlands.”

Wouter Van Bellingen, who became Belgium’s first black deputy major in 2007, has campaigned fearlessly against Black Pete/Zwart Piet. Photo by Enrique Tessieri.

Growing up with Black Pete got worse for Van Bellingen as he got older.

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Great to hear that attitudes towards migrants are improving in Finland. Let’s not, however, generalize and cry victory yet

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Why are attitudes becoming more favorable towards migrants in Finland? Helsingin Sanomat turns to Lena Näre, a sociologist, to provide some insight on why attitudes towards migrants have become more desirable.

Some results below of the poll published by Helsingin Sanomat Sunday.

Should Finland take more migrants? Yes (kyllä), don’t know (ei osaa sanoa), and no (ei). The table above shows that before the financial crisis of 2008, 55% stated that they’d want more migrants to come to Finland. Due to the recovery of the economy, among other reasons, attitudes are becoming more favorable.

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Finland finally gets some teeth and bans the neo-Nazi PVL

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Migrant Tales

In a historic decision on Thursday, the Pirkanmaa District Court banned the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (Pohjoismainen vastarintaliike, PVL) with links to far-right groups in the Nordic region, according to YLE in English. PVL is a racist hate group that aims to do away with Nordic democracy and replace it with national socialism.

The district court based its decision to ban the neo-Nazi PVL because it “flagrantly violated the principles of good practice.”

Writes YLE in English: “The court ruled that it was a violent group that exhorted followers and members to violent acts. The court said that the group was not entitled to freedom of speech protections as its actions violated the human rights of others.”

One of the latest cases of violence by the PVL is its member Jesse Torniainen, sentenced to two years in prison for aggravated assault.

Jimi Karttunen died at the age of 28 in 2016 after he received a furious kick in the chest from PVL member Jesse Torniainen. Cartoon by Sira Moksi.

For some asylum seekers Kemi, Finland, is a dangerous place after 8 pm on Saturdays

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Some asylum seekers in the northern Finnish city of Kemi claim that they do not leave their homes after eight pm on Saturdays because it’s too dangerous. One asylum seeker, who got a residence permit, said that this was advice that he received from the Red Cross.

“There are many drunks on Saturday night, and this could lead to problems,” the former asylum seeker of Kemi, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Migrant Tales. “We still get a lot of mean looks from strangers [in the city] and sometimes they give us the finger as they drive past in cars. I would say that 5%-10% of the inhabitants [of Kemi] don’t like us.”

Feelings of insecurity in Kemi was fueled by the 2016 shooting of an asylum seeker and by the Soldiers of Odin, who harass and broke another asylum seeker’s finger.

The city of Kemi is located in northern Finland near the Swedish border. Source: MTV.

Read the full story here.

Virpi Pakisjärvi, the head of the Kemi asylum reception center, denied that the Red Cross gives instructions to asylum seekers about leaving their homes on Saturday evenings.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: Racism in Finland today and yesterday

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Migrant Tales

In the 1980s, when the population of the foreign community was tiny numbering about 12,000, some asked if there was racism in Finland. One typical answer was that racism hinged on the color of your skin. The darker your skin color the more racism you would experience. While this may be a simplified answer to the problem, there was and still is racism against Russians who are white.

It is a fact that racism and hate speech is on the rise in Finland and elsewhere. But let’s be clear: Racism always existed in Finland irrespective if there are few or many migrants and minorities.

Jewish Community of Helsinki: Hate speech is directly responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism in Finland

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Yaron Nadbornik, the president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, said that the rise in online hate speech has caused great insecurity of Helsinki’s small Jewish community. The Jewish Community of Helsinki launched this week a campaign to raise 15,000 euros in 48 hours to finance increased security needs.

The Jewish Community of Helsinki uses 200,000 euros for security annually.

Read the full story (in Finnish) by Helsingin Sanomat here.

“I will not say that it is only the extreme right that is directing this [online] hate speech against the Jewish community,” said Nadbornik.”Let’s just say that they are people from different ideologies that write online thousands of hate comments against Jews.”

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Exposing white Finnish privilege #43: White versus dark skin

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Migrant Tales

Brown is beautiful just like black and white are beautiful, right? Add to the latter equation power and privilege and a more sinister picture emerges: White is beautiful but brown and black aren’t.

Finland is such a racialized country and so conscious of its whiteness that it only sees people through a very narrow lens: white Finns or non-white Finns.

Whiteness is such a powerful matter in Finland that some non-white children learn not stay under the sun too long for fear that their skin won’t become too tanned.

Some, like Rosa Emilia Clay, Finland’s first African-born naturalized Finn and primary school teacher, kept her African background a secret from her children.

Clay’s granddaughter, Normalee Johnsson, wrote in a letter in 2009 that was partly published in Helsingin Sanomat:

“When mother died, we learned her secret: we had African blood in our veins! Finally we understood why mother always wore a bonnet and long sleeves in the summer. What we could not understand is why she kept our African, Arab, and English heritage a secret. For a while it was shocking that I didn’t know who I really was.”

Those who know a little about Clay’s life in Finland, are well aware of the racism she faced and suffered.

Like hundreds of thousands of other Finns, Clay emigrated to the United States in 1904.

She never returned to Finland.

Various shades of brown. Source: Citizen by Chance

White Finnish privilege #43

Racism and white privilege are such powerful forces that some people spend their lives passing as white, according to a story in the Washington Post.

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