Racism is a rabid dog that racists walk using a short leash to get attention and votes. The dog, which knows no master except for hatred, can bite its master hard.
The tragic terrorist attack in a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, by a white supremacist terrorist, tells us loudly why the lethal brew of racism and ultranationalism can rip society in two. What happened on Saturday in El Paso will, unfortunately, happen again.
The terrorist, Patrick Crusius, 21, published a manifesto expressing anxiety about his future in the face of the Hispanic invasion of Texas.
Just like far-right parties in Europe talk about how white Christian Europe is being taken over by Muslims, Crusius expressed in his manifesto how Hispanics will take control of the local and state government and pass laws to suit their needs.
Far-right parties like the National Rally of France, Germany’s AfD, FPÖ of Austria, Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and others express the same concern as the El Paso killer: Being taken over and becoming a minority in their country.
PS politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, Riikka Purra, Laura Huhtasaari, and a long list of others like Olli Immonen of Suomen Sisu, PS Youth are spreading the same fear among Finns about being taken over by Muslims and people of color.
Spreading such lies in one of Europe’s whitest countries is not only irresponsible but reckless. It offers ammo to future terrorists.
The recent killings in El Paso and future ones tell us of the vital importance of building an inclusive society that is serious about tackling social ills like racism. Building a country based on social justice and respect for diversity is our best insurance for peace.
We can build such a society if we pull together.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.
When US President Donald Trump viciously attacked “The Squad” (Congresspersons Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar), when he told them to leave the country (see tweet below), there was dismay and outrage from politicians and other sectors of society.
In Finland, a politician like Maiju Tapiolinna can tell a Helsinki city Councilperson, Abdirahim Husu Hussein, who is a Finnish citizen, to go back to Somalia. Telling a person of color to leave the country is the most normal thing from a white Perussuomalaiset* politician.
In such a white society like Finland, the bar for what is racist and inappropriate is a way too low. White privilege and power keep it from rising as well as Malcolm X’s famous quote: “Racism is like a Cadillac, they bring out a new model every year.”
Maiju Tapiolinna’s Facebook post is a good example of the hostility that white Finnish fragility brings out in some people. She states: “Somalis should leave the country if they don’t integrate.” The Nurmijärvi PS politician has asked to police to investigate Hussein’s tweet so that that the police file charges against him. For what? The PS is not an ethnic group. Source Facebook and Sakari Timonen’s blog.
White Finnish privilege #53
One of the consequences of living in an overwhelmingly white society is that racism isn’t taken seriously as Hussein’s case proves even if you are a politician and black. It isn’t taken seriously because it isn’t in white people’s interest. Who cares what it’s like to be a person of color in Finland, right?
The predicament is similar to asking a man if he thinks there is sexism in Finland and how to eradicate it.
Why is it so difficult for the media and politicians in Finland to grasp that racism is a serious offense against our values and especially against the person at the receiving end? We proudly claim that we have one of the best education systems in the world, but still the second-biggest party in parliament is far-right and Islamophobic.
Migrant Tales recently asked the following question in an op-ed piece: “[w]hy aren’t the leaders of other parties saying anything substantial to defend and support Hussein who had the guts to speak out? Where is Prime Minister Antti Rinne, who is a member of the same party [Social Democratic Party] as Hussein? Where is Pekka Haavisto of the Greens, Left Alliance, Swedish People’s Party, and Center Party leaders? What about the National Coalition Party?
If some in the United States like Trump say and do racist things and claim they aren’t racist, in Finland, you usually hear silence from people who are indifferent to racism.
Doesn’t the Constitution guarantee that we are all equal before the law and that no person can be discriminated due to his or her background?
If you hear silence as an answer to that affirmation, you should start to worry.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.
From left to right: Rodolfo Walsh, Harriet Tubman, James Baldwin, and Mercedes Sosa.
Shirlene Green Newball is an Afro-Nicaraguan activist who moved to Finland 13 years ago and lives today in the capital Helsinki. Shirlene tells us in the interview about her life in Finland and those of Afro-Nicaraguans and other minorities. Is Finland a good country to live in if you are a black woman from the Caribbean region?
Rodolfo Walsh, Harriet Tubman, James Baldwin y Mercedes Sosa.
Shirlene Green Newball es una activista afro-nicaragüense que se mudó a Finlandia hace 13 años y actualmente vive en en la capital, Helsinki. Shirlene nos cuenta en la entrevista sobre su vida en Finlandia y de la situación de las afro-nicaragüenses y otras minorías. ¿Es Finlandia un buen país para emigrar si eres negra y mujer?
White Finnish supremacy is not only limited to the Perussuomalaiset (PS).* It is found in other mainstream Finnish parties as well.
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
This is how a far-right white supremacist like Jussi Halla-aho attempt, like in a Yle interview in February, argue why people of color and other minorities can never be Finns: “If I would for some reason go to Somalia and become a Somali citizen, would that make me a Somali?”
Even if the host Kirsi Heikel stood silent while the head of the PS made the statement, the example is another hallow defense of how Halla-aho attempts to exclude migrants and minorities in Finnish society.
The answer by Halla-aho is what I call a yes-but-no response. It may sound at first logical but you soon notice that it is full of holes. It is like an apple that is shiny from the outside but rotten from the core.
Many people who aren’t white don’t want to be white like Halla-aho, PS Vice President Riikka Purra never mind party secretary Simo Grönroos. For me, that would be horrible. What we want, instead, is to be treated with respect, enjoy equal rights and stop hearing near-constantly toxic othering so common to Finland’s hostile environment.
Take a good look at Halla-aho, Purra, Grönroos and others like them and ask yourself the following question: Do I want to look and be like them?
Never!
Certainly, it would also be difficult, if not impossible for some, to change their skin color and ethnic background to appear as white as them.
The surge of racism, hate speech and crime in Finland during this decade is so dire that some children of color learn at an early age to feel inferior and ashamed of their dark skins. Some, even try hiding from the sun because it tans their skins.
What kind of a country and society do we live in where children, yes children, don’t feel at ease with who they are?
In an attempt to keep Finland an imaginary 99% white and Christian country in the future, Halla-aho and his trusty right-hand woman, Purra, turn to the supernatural to define who is a Finn. According to them, you can tell who is a Finn by intuition.
Both Halla-aho and Purra don’t tell you if that Finn they claim to see by intuition is a black person, a person of color or a visible migrant and minority.
Both of them are so white-Finn centric that they most likely mean a white person.
They call it intuition, I call it bullshit.
Parties like the PS, with the help of other mainstream parties, are trying to normalize racism. We must do everything in our power to stop this type of social ill from spreading more.
What makes the PS a far-right Islamophobic party that is a threat to this country?
It supports ethnonationalism;
Even if it the party’s leadership claims that it does not support ethnonationalism, it does nothing to ban it from the party;
PS party secretary Grönroos is an ethnonationalism;
The PS supports the social exclusion of Muslims;
It requires groups like Muslims to give up their culture and identity;
It copies and pastes far-right Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric used by such parties in Europe,
It openly aims to make naturalization laws stricter for migrants thus retarding their participation as equal members of society;
It supports one-way adaption (assimilation) not two-way integration of migrants;
Cultural and ethnic diversity are four-letter words for the PS;
It fears that white Finns will become a minority in their own country and makes a big deal about this;
Without reading European history, it believes that Europe is only white and Christian and should stay that way;
It aligns itself in the EU parliament with similar far-right parties like Italy’s Lega and National Rally of France that are pro-Moscow;
It is a member of the far-right EU parliament Identity and Democracy political group;
It supports policies that make and keep migrants and minorities as second- or third-class members of society;
All of its EU candidates didn’t mind if asylum seekers drown in the Mediterranean;
It is a homophobic party that supports neo-liberal economic policies.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.
In Finland, there are parties and groups whose sole aim is to defend Finnish white supremacy, a concocted lie to justify one’s racism and oppress and exclude people of color.
The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity (Suomalaisuuden liitto), responsible for whitewashing cultural diversity in Finland, and Suomen Sisu are prime examples. The Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo), Finnish Criminal Police (KRP), academics, and the Council for the Mass Media (JSN), labeled Suomen Sisu a “Nazi spirited” association.
“The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to awaken and strengthen knowledge and the way of thinking as well as in every way promote Finnishness, especially Finnish-language based culture. ” The statement should, however, read: “The traditional role of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity is to whitewash diversity in Finland by promoting Finnish white culture.”
Finland’s second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS),* is where these far-right ethnonationalist groups have found a platform and springboard to expand and normalize their ideology.
One matter that unites them ideologically is that they live in a cultural time warp where culture remains near-stagnant and is under threat by migration and minorities.
Suomen Sisu’s mission statement reads: “Finnishness cannot be redefined, it can only be maintained and developed, or it will be displaced.”
While Suomen Sisu, an association that is openly against Finns marrying and hostile to non-Finns, has caused little outrage and is a source of concern.
Whenever you talk about your group as “a tribe” you start to flirt or flirt with racism. The PS Youth, which had their funds cut this year due to a racist tweet, is a prime example.
The logo of the association gives the impression that Finnish women walked around in ethnic costumes at a time where many people could not afford proper clothing.
The PS Youth’s logo. White women and romanticism for a period where most Finns could not afford to have Finnish costumes. Source: Perussuomalaiset nuoret.
The PS held on Saturday its annual congress where it reelected Jussi Halla-aho as their chairperson and three vice presidents, Arja Juvonen, Riikka Purra, and Juha Eerola.
While Halla-aho and all of the vice presidents of the party have built their political careers on the anti-immigration message, its newly elected party secretary, Simo Gönroos, is a member of the ethnonationalist Suomen Sisu and the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity.
Apart from his anti-immigration stance, Grönroos is the executive director of the Suomen Perusta Foundation, whose aim is to “prove” that immigration is costly and harmful to Finland.
Grönroos, an ethnonationalist to the core, was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat by giving his views of Finnishness and Finnish identity. He stated that “the starting point is that one is born a Finn.”
Then he offers a typical Halla-aho interpretation to justify the latter claim.
“If a Finn moved to Somalia, he will not become a Somali,” he reasoned. “If a Somali moves to Finland, he will not become a Finn even if he could be a Finnish citizen.”
This is exactly the same copy-and-paste response that Halla-aho gave in a YLE interview in February. “If I would for some reason go to Somalia and become a Somali citizen would that make me a Somali,” he asked.
In the search for terms to maintain white Finnish supremacy, Halla-aho, like Grönroos, want to separate so-called “ethnic” or white Finn from Finn just like the terms English from British.
“The question who is a Finn is [an] interesting [question],” Halla-aho was quoted as saying in the YLE interview. “The problem is that in Finnish we don’t have a term that classifies who is an ethnic Finn and a Finnish citizen.”
If the above isn’t an example of white Finnish supremacy and relegating Other groups as second-class members of society living as eternal outsiders without history, nothing is.
A clarification to Halla-aho and Grönroos: None of us want to be white like you never mind hold the same racist views as you. That would be horrible. However, everyone, irrespective of their background, is an equal member of society that defines Finnishness in the way he or she wishes. Finnishness does not and never will mean being white.
In order to understand how misplaced Halla-aho’s and Grönroos’ views are, we could apply them to countries like the United States, Canada, Argentina, and others.
The result: Minorities and Other groups would be outraged because it is justifying the whitewashing of their history and white supremacist ideology.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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 nativistnationalism 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.
AnIraqi family of two children aged 6 and 5, went to the Kemi social welfare office today to seek help since the family was forced to leave the hotel they were staying at today. According to the father of the family, the social worker told him angrily that he will not get any more assistance from the city after Monday.
The Iraqi family was granted room and board. They received 116 euros for food.
Asylum seekers (from left to right): the father, son, daughter, and wife.
Migrant Tales reported in an earlier story that the family would be forced to live in the street and penniless as of today. What we did not mention was that the Red Cross had directed the family to the social office of Kemi to seek help for the family.
Considering the fact that the family will be homeless and penniless as of next Monday, it was correct what we reported in the earlier story.
The family came to Finland in 2015 and had been staying at the Kemi asylum reception center but were told to leave after nine rejections for asylum.
While some municipalities assist undocumented asylum seekers for up to three months, the Iraqi family’s help in Kemi is for only 10 days.
“The social worker spoke to me angrily and told me that they would help us until Monday,” a friend of the asylum seeker who speaks Finnish, told Migrant Tales. “The social worker said that go back to your homeland, search for work or live with a friend, but we cannot help you anymore.”
Migrant Tales called the social worker, but she did not answer the phone. I contacted the Red Cross in Kemi but they would not give any information about the asylum seeker except to confirm that they had directed the family to the social welfare office in Kemi.
A poll by Yle shows that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party enjoys the most support with 19.5%, according to Yle News. Since 2011, when the PS won its historic election victory, we have seen the party come and go in the polls.
Of all the Finnish parties in parliament, the PS is the most hostile to migrants and minorities.
I am pessimistic that white Finns and their parties could help rid the PS from the Finnish political map. They too are white like the PS. Why would they want to stick their necks out for migrants and minorities if there is no political gain in it?
Denmark offers a warning for us in Finland.
Even if some see the victory of the Social Democrats in Denmark in this weekend’s parliamentary election as a death blow to the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party, think twice.
Writes The Nation: “The Social Democrats, faced with waning support in the past two decades, have parroted the Danish People’s Party on immigration, backing hard-line policies they characterize as necessary to save the country’s prized welfare state.”
If the white political parties are to be believed, migrants are putting in danger the welfare state in a rich country like Denmark. Studies in that country show that strains on the welfare state hinge on an aging population.
The Nation continues: “While other social-democratic parties [in other countries] have adopted tougher immigration laws in times of ‘crisis’ and used anti-immigration and Islamophobic language, no party has so openly ran on a nativist and welfare-chauvinist agenda as the Danish Social Democrats,” said Cas Mudde, a political scientist at the University of Georgia who specializes on populism.
The big question that we should ask is how far will the Social Democrats in Finland go and will they jump on the anti-immigration bandwagon as they already have in some cases. It may be that the Left Alliance, Greens and Swedish People’s Party are keeping them in check fo the moment but for how long?
It would be naive to leave to chance the future of migrants and minorities in this country to political parties. When matters get tough, they will be the first ones to ditch us.
This leaves us with an option: migrants, minorities and especially people of color have to unite and work hard to get their voices heard and our grievances answered.
Watching and listening to parties like the PS constantly mock and undermine our rights are a constant insult to decency. Their anti-immigration rhetoric is an insult to our Nordic institutions.
What I can say with certainty is that their leaders, like other xenophobes from other parties, will not be forgotten. We will do everything possible to inform our children and grandchildren of Finland’s hostile environment so that we never return to this wretched place again.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017,
into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue
Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform was wiped off
the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament
plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.
Former Minister of Justice Antti Häkkänen, 34, is a conservative politician of the National Coalition Party (NCP) who doesn’t like Muslims and refugees. His recent tweet about Peussuomalaiset(PS)* party leader Jussi Halla-aho shows how the NCP has helped to make the PS and racism normal in Finland.
One of the matters that people say about Häkkänen in his home town of Mänyharju (pop. 5,900) is that apart from politics, he has never had a regular job.
What did Häkkänen tweet?
“Jussi Halla-aho [the chairperson of the PS who was convicted for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012] has strong confidence from the people due to his thoughts and actions. He is a politician with whom you should cooperate.”
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform was wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. 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.
