Category: Enrique

How discrimination works in Finnish basketball

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If there is a game that is played by people from diverse backgrounds, that game is basketball. When I moved to the United States as a child, basketball was my door to new friends and acceptance. 

Basketball was a way of life in Hollywood, California, for many young people like me.

In Finland it is a mixed story if you are a referee. There are very good referees who understand that prejudice is pernicious, while others still don’t have a clue.

I know from experience that if you complain about discrimination to the Finnish Basketball Association, you won’t be taken seriously. In my case, you’ll end up getting a scornful look suggesting that you are using “the racism card.”

I have refed for close to ten years all types of games not only in Finland but in in Madrid, Spain, where I lived and worked for about a year.

Discrimination is difficult to measure in sports but not impossible. In many respects it’s like measuring corruption in journalism. It’s fine to accept your host to pay your lunch but wrong if this happens every time.

Consistency is a good benchmark when studying how refs are discriminated in Finland. Is the person with a non-Finnish name the one that is always the umpire and the person with the Finnish name the ref?

I was refing for one year all-nation games for seventeen-year-olds in Finland around 2006. I was always the umpire and my partner, with the Finnish name, who had roughly the same experience as I,  was the ref.

When I brought this case to the attention of the Finnish Basketball Association, I got the cold shoulder. I was made to feel that my complaint wasn’t valid and that I was using the “racism card.”

The whole incident was as a result forgotten.

The stick that broke the camel’s back happened on Sunday when my former partner, who is the regional ref that names other refs for games, told me that I would be umpire in a game because I could not control my temper and lacked experience. Adding salt to injury with the help of prejudice, he laughed trying to drive home his point.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. According to him, I was “hot-tempered” because it’s the national character of southern Europeans (sic!).

As I mentioned, I have refed for about ten years and have learned the art of remaining calm under pressure. My job as a teacher and working with immigrants has taught me that staying calm is a key virtue at all times.

I ref to train and strengthen such virtues.

If you have suffered similar cases while doing sports in Finland, Migrant Tales would be happy to hear your story.

 

Social inclusion is never voluntary in a land where racism is king

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Even if the late King Jr. was gunned down in 1968, that quote is still valid today. In Finland it would read in the following manner: “Social equality is never voluntarily given by the majority; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” 

We have discussed on many Migrant Tales blog entries about racism and social exclusion. If we look at this social ill in Finland, it could be placed in two periods: pre- and post-April 2011.

Before last year’s historic parliamentary election, when an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam party won 39 seats, it’s clear that racism and xenophobia are influential political forces that not only give you votes, but power.

No modern political party in this country has ever tapped the undercurrent of Finnish racism as successfully as the Perussuomalaiset (PS).  Even if the popularity of the PS has weaned from 2011, its anti-immigration candidates did well in the October municipal elections.

Racism has found a good home in Finland to spread roots and survive. The same social ill that is impoverishing our country today by scaring away skilled immigrants and foreign investment, has been around since we became an independent nation in 1917.

Back then, our racism and xenophobia were mainly fueled by the former Soviet Union and Russia.

Racism flourishes in these parts because it is profitable and because too many want to keep it that way.

Racism destroys lives in Finland by robbing opportunities. If you aren’t resourceful to challenge this social ill as an immigrant or visible minority, it will keep you in limbo indefinitely.

One reason why large political parties in Finland have been so slow to react to the menace of the PS is that they too are white. Many house the same reactive attitudes about “otherness” as the PS.

Some parties are now waking up to the PS threat. It’s not because they are anti-racist, but because they see that party as a threat to their political base.

Since we understand a little how racism operates and grows in these parts, the most important step we should take is to trust ourselves.  We are the only ones who will spearhead our inclusion and acceptance issues in this society.

Here are some things you can do now to start changing things:

  • Learn as much as you can about the society you live in
  • Learn how social exclusion and racism thrive in such a society
  • Standing up for your rights will help your discover your new identity in your new homeland
  • Start up a blog or join one like Migrant Tales
  • Get politically active and speak out
  • Be outspoken, brave and have empathy
  • Demonstrate if needed
  • Go on hunger strike if needed
  • Start a petition if needed
  • Lead by example (we cannot change the world but we can influence those around us)
  • Be patient and persistent

 

 

FRA: Hate crime a daily matter in the European Union

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Two recent reports published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) confirm that hate crime happens daily throughout the European Union (EU). One of the reports reveals that 32% of Somalis interviewed by the agency that live in Finland reported being victims of hate crimes during the past 12 months.

Other countries in the dubious league with Finland and the Czech Republic included Denmark, Malta, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Germany and Cyprus (see table below).

Do you think that this incident/any of these incidents in the last 12 month happened partly or completely because of you immigrant/minority background? Source : FRA, EU-MIDIS Data in Focus 6 – Minorities as Victims of Crime, Figure 5

The FRA states that the only way to combat hate crime, the EU needs to make these crimes more visible and hold perpetrators to account. Greater political will is needed “on the part of decision makers to counter pervasive prejudice against certain groups and compensate for the damage.”

This may be easier said than done. The question we must ask is not only why victims are unwilling to report such crimes to the police, but why such institutions and the government don’t make a big deal about it.

“Hate crimes create an ‘us and them’ mentality that does tremendous psychological damage,” says FRA Director Morten Kjaerum. “They undermine the basic democratic tenets of equality and non-discrimination. Hate crimes thus harm not only the victim, but also other people belonging to the same group – many of whom are terrified that they will become the next target – and society as a whole.”

Just like a recent Race Council Cymru study published by the BBC that reveals how racism goes “under-reported” in Wales, the FRA confirms this trend in other European countries. It states: “…victims are often unable or unwilling to seek redress against perpetrators, with many crimes remaining unreported and unprosecuted and, therefore, invisible.”

Hate crime statistics for 2011 will be published in Finland before end-year, according to the Police College of Finland.

Read the full FRA report here.

 

 

Mulitucltural Ireland’s vision should be ours as well

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why is it that we don’t hear Finnish politicians speaking in the same manner as Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins, who said that a major task of the country’s EU presidency should be to remove ignorance and misunderstanding, which lead to “incipient forms of racism,” writes the Irishtimes.com. 

Speaking at the launch of the Neighborhood Week, an annual event at the Islamic Cultural Center in Clonskeagh, Higgins said that “the Europe we aspire to does not recoil from fears based on ignorance.”

He admitted that there were dangers to society when there is segregated space allocated to individual cultures. “Ghettoizing of [all] ethnic groups and the erection of cultural barriers, built on fear, prejudice or ignorance,” he said, “[should] be avoided at all costs.”

Higgins said that the country’s new citizens, which included Muslims, play an important role in “shaping and crafting our shared future.”

In order to practice equality, the head of state said it was important to understand that “belonging is not based on imitation or the subservience of one culture to another.”

Diverse cultures should instead bring about a new sense of human solidarity and an understanding that integration is a two-way process.

Why haven’t we heard any Finnish politicians speak in the same inclusive fashion about immigrants and visible minorities as Higgins? Is it because Ireland has no anti-immigration parties like Finland? Is it because the Perussuomalaiset are the third-largest political force in Finland?

The silence and even cowardice that seeps through our inaction helps, as Higgins warned, promote “incipient forms of racism” in this country.

 

Police College of Finland: 2011 hate crime statistics will be published before end-year

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Police College of Finland is taking a long time to publish its hate crime statistics for 2011. A spokesperson of the Police College told Migrant Tales Friday that hate crime data will be published “in a few weeks,” or before end-year.  

Migrant Tales spoke to the Police College in early November. A spokeswoman said back then that the hate crime statistics would be published “by the end of November.”

Hate crime statistics for 2010 were published last year on October 27.

Internet policeman Marko Forss has hinted that hate crime statistics for 2011 may “rise a little” from 2010, when they fell by 15% to 860 cases from 1,007 in the previous year.

While former interior ministry officials like Ritva Viljanen are happy to note that hate crimes retreated in 2010, they have grown during a longer period.

Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini has used such statistics to point out that racism isn’t a problem in Finland, never mind in his party.

The “low” number of hate crimes reported in Finland could be attributable to many factors. Some of these are ignorance of one’s rights, language and cultural barriers, fear of reprisals, lack of trust and difficulty of reporting such crimes to the police.

If we look at neighboring Sweden, which is years ahead of Finland when it comes to cultural diversity, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention states the following about hate crimes:

Hate crimes are characterized by a large number of unrecorded cases, i.e. cases not reported to the police. For this reason the statistics cannot be said to reflect the actual extent of hate crime in Sweden. The Swedish Crime Survey  is used as a complement to the statistics on police reports with identified hate crimes. It should be noted though that regarding exposure to hate crime, the results in the Swedish Crime Survey is uncertain due to low numbers of respondents, why the true extent might be under- or over-rated.

Most hate crimes reported in Sweden in 2011 were identified as xenophobic and/or racist. A total of 3,900 xenophobic/racist cases were reported, of which 800 were Afrophobic and just over 180 anti-Roma.

Statistics in Sweden report anti-religious motives (650 cases), while 902 cases were reported as homophobic, biphobic, transphobic and heteroephobic.

Nine percent of all hate crimes were ideologically motivated (white power).

 

 

 

Finland celebrates its 95th independence day

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As Finland celebrates today its 95th anniversary as an independent nation, the noble values of acceptance, respect and inclusion should resonate in the Finnish expat community and in this country, from Helsinki all the way north to Ohcejohka (Utsjoki).  What is the big picture we should strive for as a society in this century? 

English poet W.H. Auden (1907-73) offers us an eloquent answer. He once said civilizations should be measured by ”the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained.”

This is the exact yardstick that Finland should use to measure its success as a society in the twenty-first century.

While Finland guarantees and promotes cultural diversity in the spirit of its laws, what happens on the ground is unfortunately a different story.

Too many Finns still shun, and are even hostile to, cultural diversity.

If we look at our second- and third-generation Finns, those whose parents or grandparents moved to this country as immigrants or refugees, it becomes evident that we still have a long way to go as a nation when promoting a society based on mutual acceptance and respect.

In many respects, the Russification period (1899-1905 and 1908-1917), when Czar Nicholas II unilaterally  attempted to compromise Finland’s autonomy and its cultural unity, is similar but in a different context to the indifference and hostility that expats, immigrants and visible minorities face today.

Just like Russification aimed at weakening this country, groups like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), Suomen Sisu, Suomalaisuuden liitto and others are doing the same thing. Their aim is to render useless, destroy and socially exclude new Finns who are and never will be like them.

Not only have these anti-immigration groups declared open war on Finland’s “others,” they have kidnapped our national icons in the process to spread their brand of racism and prejudice.

The good news is that these pro-racism groups will fail because, like with Russification, they will be bitten hard by the very hatred that they promote.

Just like the first phase (1899-1905) of Russification suffered a blow thanks to the defeat of the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, the modern version of that historical watershed is Anders Breivik. Without the Norwegian mass murderer, the anti-immigration message of those groups that are hostile to immigrants and visible minorities would have gotten stronger and louder in Finland and elsewhere in the Nordic region.

I have confidence in Finland and the Finns to rid themselves of groups that flirt with the most destructive forces that promote racism, far-right ideologies and blind nationalism.

That is why I am celebrating this important date, December 6.

 

Salolainen’s comment about USAmerican Jews exposes a wider problem in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

National Coalition Party MP Pertti Salolainen got himself in hot water Saturday due to a comment he made on YLE Aamu TV morning talk show about USAmerican Jews, reports Helsingin Sanomat. The vice chairman of the foreign policy committee said that American Jews have vast control over the wealth and media in the United States. As a result, this hinders Washington from remaining neutral toward the Palestinians. 

You can read about Salolainen’s statement on the Jerusalem Post as well.

In my opinion, the biggest mistake that Salolainen did was making such a gross generalization in the first place. USAmerican Jews may control part of the country’s wealth and media, how much is another point.

Moreover, for a vice chairman of the foreign policy committee to make such a generalization adds salt to Salolainen’s inopportune comment.

So what’s the lesson we should learn from Salolainen’s mistake?

Never generalize about ethnic and religious groups because you are going to get yourself in big trouble especially if that group has the means to defend itself.

Too many politicians and policy-makers in this country make similar generalizations about immigrants and other ethnic groups.

This explains in party why their policies and expectations aren’t realistic. They are based on stereotypes and myths that aren’t simply true.

 

 

When the state and regulations scheme to make life difficult for immigrants

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The lives of stateless persons in Finland isn’t easy by a long shot. On the one hand we want newcomers to adapt to our society but deny them a basic right like opening a bank account. Think for a moment how complicated life would be without a bank account. 

If you are a stateless person and lucky enough to open a bank account, you may not have access to online banking. This means that every bill you get must be paid at the bank for a fee.

Thirty years ago Finns paid their bills this way.

Not everyone can open a bank account in Finland. Only people who have a valid document. Banks consider a passport a valid document.

Just like society punishes you for belonging to a minority, the lives of stateless persons are penalized because they came from war-torn countries.

Some employees at banks like Sampo appear to make their own rules. One stateless person with a passport told me that a teller said  she could not open a bank account because she didn’t have a driver’s license!

I know of one case where a stateless person has travelled over 100 kilomters to his hometown to get money from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). The journey by train implies spending a chunk of his small monthly earnings, never mind the time lost, in doing something that would take a few seconds at an ATM machine.

There’s some hope on the way. The ministry of interior wants to change matters so it would be easier for newly arrived immigrants to get an id card with which to get a debit card from the bank, according to YLE.

How long will it take before this very important issue is addressed effectively by the bank and state authorities?

Because it appears that the aim of these two institutions is to make life as difficult as possible for these people, don’t expect anything soon to happen.

THL study shows high amount of mental health problems suffered by Russians, Somalis and Kurds

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The first question that came to mind when I read a disturbing study of Russian, Somali and Kurdish immigrants by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is why now? If the THL study is the first-ever of its kind in Finland about immigrants’ health and living conditions, why has it taken such a long time to materialize? 

One of the biggest surprises of the study was the high amount of immigrants who suffered from mental-health problems, THL researcher, Seppo Kosinen, was quoted as saying on Helsingin Sanomat.

In the study, males were healthier than women.

Taking into account the high amount of mental health issues that the THL study reveals, probably the biggest surprise is how little the health authorities knew about the state of health of some immigrant groups in Finland.

Does one need to be an expert to grasp that unemployment, discrimination, social exclusion and poverty are some culprits behind the mental health problems of immigrants? Certainly there are other ones like traumas endured in their former war-ravaged home countries.

Another matter that bothered me about the study was its shortened name, Maamu, which sounds like mamu, the shortened form of the Finnish name for immigrant, or maahanmuuttaja. 

While some immigrants don’t have a problem with this word, some do. If Finns call immigrants mamu is it then ok  to refere to men or women as äijä (dude) or gimma (chick), respectively.

Migrant Tales welcomes the belated THL study since it shows that Finnish health authorities are starting to take a real interest in the well-being of immigrants in this country.

Another scandal hits far-right Sweden Democrats

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Sweden Democrat (SD) MP Lars Isovaara is resigning his seat after he spat at a parliamentary security guard, reports The Local. The latest scandal to the far-right party follows an earlier one this month after Swedish tabloid Expressen published a video of an SD MP who got rowdy  in public and hurled racist and sexist insults. 

SD party chairman, Jimmie Åkesson, stated that Isovaara’s behvior had eaten away his credibility, adding that the former MP has ”personal problems.”

Writes The Local: ”Isovaara reportedly oinked like a pig and spat at a security guard in the early hours of Wednesday morning after he had reported a robbery. He called the Expressen newspaper himself and urged them to publish the story, however the paper later published information that suggested the robbery never took place.”

In neighboring Finland, the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party has seen numerous scandals ranging from drunken and disorderly behavior to  applying for membership in a neo-Nazi party.

How many of these PS MPs and party members have faced the music and resigned on their own will?

None.