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Category: Enrique Tessieri
How the Finnish media Others racialized pupils
One of the casualties of the war in Ukraine will be social rights and the recognition of racialized people in Finland. Are we witnessing more aggressive reporting as a result?
Helsingin Sanomat published Wednesday a whole spread about how “over half of the students at several schools in Espoo don’t speak Finnish as their mother tongue.”
And it leads the story claiming that a researcher warns that what is happening in Espoo is a part of a “worrisome” European trend.
Sounds pretty sensationalist, right?
To top it off, Yle published a survey a day earlier showing that a majority of Russian speakers in Finland have a negative view of the country’s membership in Nato.
The Yle story labels Russians in such a toxic way that it feeds the Russophobia beast that resides inside many Finns.
The Helsingin Sanomat, like the Yle survey, have a common message: Don’t trust “foreigners.” They are a problem.
Another question that the Helsingin Sanomat article raises is the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS).* We have heard for a long time how the Islamophobic party has spread ethnonationalist views and the great replacement theory.
Continue reading “How the Finnish media Others racialized pupils”How institutional racism entrenches at a Finnish school
How does institutional racism survive unchallenged at a Finnish school? An anonymous source got in touch with Migrant Tales and pointed out how structural or institutional racism survives at a Finnish school.
One of the most crucial factors for its survival aren’t surveys and legal ineffective and false assurances against discrimination and racism but what the principal or leadership of the school thinks about such social ills. Is anti-racism a low priority, and does the school management camouflage its racism usually with its silence?
In Finland, according to the source, it is easy to house racist views and seek cover in the protective structural racism infrastructure. One can even get money from the state for anti-discrimination work by throwing out catchphrases like “this will be good for integration.”
In many cases, the promise that “this will be good for integration” is false and misguided and feeds structural racism. Integration, or adaption, is a two-way process. Even so, this is usually forgotten.
The majority is not required to “integrate” but the newcomer is.
Here are some of the factors that maintain structural racism at a Finnish school:
Continue reading “How institutional racism entrenches at a Finnish school”Peddling theories about ethnic replacement in Finland for political profit and blood
I received a call from an old Migrant Tales reader who was distraught about a letter to the editor written by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth of Lappeenranta. The headline? “The nation-state is our best protection.”
Is it?
The reader continued: “How can Helsingin Sanomat publish something that openly excludes non-white Finns and other minorities in Finland? I’m worried about my child. What kind of a country are we heading? Nazi Germany?”
After reading the letter to the editor, I agreed and understood the reader’s concern. Like the Republicans in the US, the PS of Finland are openly subverting our Nordic democracy by replacing it with an autocratic system like Viktor Orbán’s Hungary.
Apart from excluding minorities in Finland and forgetting what racism and hatred of Nazi Germany in World War 2, the PS Youth claims the following:
Continue reading “Peddling theories about ethnic replacement in Finland for political profit and blood”Exposing white privilege in Finland #86: Maryan Abdulkarim and Finland’s amnesia
I can’t remember. It’s not important anyway.
Finland’s political amnesia shrowded in denial and hostility comes in the form of knee-jerk reactions. Those knee-jerk reactions may appear by acting dumb to difficult questions or by destroying your credibility in public.
I met Maryan Abdulkarim many years ago and commended her bravery in the face of continuous suspicion and hostility. Many in this country see her bravery as a positive matter needed in a Finland that suffers from too many Teflon politicians and political amnesia.
After six years of being a host on the Yle television show Jälkivisaat raati, which discusses topical issues of the day, Abdulkarim decided to leave after the program decided to include former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson (1995-2017), Timo Soini, as its new host.
Continue reading “Exposing white privilege in Finland #86: Maryan Abdulkarim and Finland’s amnesia”Will Nato membership for Finland be good for migrants and minority rights?
If truth Is the first casualty in war, then the second casualty is the loss of your civil rights.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin are due to announce Thursday that Finland should join Nato “without delay,” according to The Guardian.
While Finland’s security concerns are valid enough for its giant eastern neighbor and what’s happening in Ukraine, the rushed pace of our membership in Nato has stymied debate about Finland’s major foreign policy shift.
One of the matters that worry me is if our hardened stance against Russia will continue to fuel our xenophobic tendencies. As a Nato member, will Finland find understanding to promote social equality for minorities, including Muslims, Africans, and people of color?
Another aspect that raises question marks is the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).
Even if Nato will improve our security, the new tougher face of Finland could have a negative impact on our Nordic values and how they are applied to different groups.
Disagree?
Continue reading “Will Nato membership for Finland be good for migrants and minority rights?”How the Finnish media frames “good” and “bad” refugees
Länsiväylä is a community newspaper that lives off advertising revenues. One story on Ukrainian refugees raking a park in Kirkonnummi, a city near Helsinki, is another chapter in framing Ukrainian refugees as “good” refugees, while similar people from the Middle East are viewed as “bad” refugees.
One PS politician states:
“These Ukrainians are pretty different from many who sought asylum in Finland.
Thankfulness is shown in this way (raking a park lawn. See picture below.)
I hope that some of them remain in Finland when the war ends.
They are needed here.
I believe they will not be over-represented in crime statistics. “
Instead of framing “good” and “bad” migrants, it would be good for the media to show that we are as a society humane and ready to help others. If we can open our hearts to Ukrainians, why couldn’t we do the same for people from the Middle East and Africa?
Not a Muslim “terrorist” but a white Finn belonging to the far-right PS
A 33-year-old driver driving at high speed in the city center ended up hitting several cars and crashing in front of a cafe on Pohjoiesplanadi on May Day Eve, according to Yle News. Three people were injured including the suspect.
The suspect, a member of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party and a public servant at the ministry of economic affairs and employment, resisted arrest and yelled at the police.
In a video, he calls the police the devil and says repeatedly “amen” on the ground as he is being apprehended.
The suspect was a PS candidate in the country election held in January and on the same list as Riikka Purra, the chairperson of the far-right party.
The suspect is being held for aggravated endangerment of traffic safety, aggravated drunk driving, grievous bodily injury, resisting an official, and insubordination, the police said in a statement, according to Yle News.
Strangely, there has been no response from the PS on what happened.
If the person had been a Muslim, we all know how the PS and the Finnish media would have reacted.
Shouldn’t we demand, in the far-right PS example, an apology from all the party members for what happened?
The best news is that nobody was hurt seriously.
Twitter: Perussuomalainen Nuoriso ja tyhmät saappaat
Näyttää siltä, että Perussuomalainen Nuoriso tykkää kopioida vanhaa retoriikkaa. Teuvo Hakkarainen sanoi samaa yli 10 vuotta sitten. Ilta-Sanomien mukaan Hakkarainen ehdotti, että homot, lesbot ja somalit pitäisi laittaa asumaan yhdessä Ahvenanmaalle.
Tähän ryhmään nyt kuuluu kielteisen turvapaikkapäätöksen saaneiden.
Väite herättää monessa suhteessa paljon kysymyksiä. Miten vauras pohjoismainen hyvinvointivaltio, joka perustaa arvonsa sosiaaliseen yhdenvertaisuudeen ja oikeudenmukaisuuteen ja jolla on yksi maailman parhaista koulutusjärjestelmistä, voi langeta rasismin ansaan?
Pitäisikö Perussuomalainen Nuoriso muuttaa Ahvenanmaalle etsimään tähän kysymyksen vastausta?
The Right to Live citizen’s initiative has over 50,000 signatures – parliament has a moral obligation to grant residence permits to undocumented migrants
The Right to Live (Lupa elää) citizen’s initiative passed through the 50,000 signatures barrier Friday. If passed by parliament, the initiative will grant four-year residence permits to undocumented migrants who came to Finland before January 1, 2017.
The ministry of interior published its recommendations on what to do with some 3,000 undocumented migrants who came to Finland in 2015-2016. Of this group, about 300 are children.
States the Right to Live: “An unprecedented number of asylum seekers arrived in Finland during the years 2015 and 2016. Many went through asylum processes that were hurried and of poor quality. More than 5 years later, some of them are in a legal limbo and are still waiting for a residence permit, while some are waiting for the first non-appealable decision to their asylum applications.”
The proposal, made by the Green League, to grant a residence permit to undocumented migrants has received opposition from government parties like the Social Democrats (SDP) and Center Party.
Migrant Tales has published several stories about the lives of undocumented migrants in Finland. Here is Amir’s story.
Some of the most vocal government objectors to the proposal are SDP MP Eveliina Heinäluoma and Mikko Kärnä of the Center Party, both parliament’s administrative committee members.
Be ready to hear a lot of empty whining by some politicians on why we should continue to let thousands of undocumented migrants and their children live on the fringes of society without any rights.