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Five MLK quotes that are relevant to Finland today

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

U.S. Civil Rights Movement champion, Martin Luther King Jr. (1928-68), is still a source of guiding inspiration for many victims of discrimination and oppression throughout the world. Below are five MLK quotes that are relevant to Finland.

The mere idea that some Finns and our institutions reinforce the myth of ethnic purity have caused me to think many times. Such a claim is preposterous since we have always been culturally diverse* like any European group.

The interesting question we should be asking, however, is why some of us continue to cling to such a myth.  Is it being challenged today? If so, how?

In order to maintain such a myth that has its roots in racism, we must divide society into ethnic groups and place them on a scale. Very generally speaking, white Finns are, naturally on top of the totem pole, while darker-skinned groups are at the bottom.

In my opinion, the fact that some white Finns still believe they have all the moral right to impose their narrow-minded and racist views on other groups speaks volumes about the present state of our society.

Below are five MLK quotes that may help shed light on who we are and, hopefully, further the cause of greater acceptance and empower Finns as well as immigrants to build a society based on one of our greatest values: social equality.

1. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Hating those that oppress you can never be the right strategy to challenge racism in society. Hatred is such a strong emotion that it can easily blind people. It is the illness that has inflicted those that oppress and loathe you.

2. “A right delayed is a right denied.” 

This quote speaks for itself.  Much of the discrimination that goes on in Finland is fueled as well by apathetic immigrants or so-called Mamu-setäs who are comfortable with “delayed rights.”   Immigrants and minorities must fight for their rights. It will never be given to us by the majority without a struggle.

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

Sites like My Finland is International and others are good examples of groups demanding greater rights and acceptance in Finland.  Empower yourself and get active. Be patient and be ready for a long struggle. We cannot change the world but we can influence those around us with our humble example.

4. “I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”

If  there is a motto that should unify all immigrants, minorities and Finns fighting against discrimination, it is the above-mentioned by MLK in his famous 1963,  “I have a dream” speech.

5. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

This quote is dedicated to all those vacillating politicians, the Finnish media and even a part of the general public as well as immigrants that have chosen to remain silent to the menace posed to our society by anti-immigration parties and groups.  It is during these difficult times when countries like Finland need leadership – not complacent silence.

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*By cultural diversity we mean a society that is made up of different ethnic and religious groups. Some of these minorities include Finns with multicultural backgrounds. Contrary to far-right groups, Migrant Tales defines multiculturalism as cultural diversity. It is NOT an immigration policy that permits non-Europeans from moving to Finland and Europe.

Argentina’s nuclear industry: Atoms for underdevelopment

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  Of all the opinion pieces I published when I worked for the Buenos Aires Herald during 1987-88, this one on Argentina’s nuclear industry in the 1980s stands out.   

About 24 years later after the opinion piece was published, Atucha II will come online next year.  

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By Enrique Tessieri

Of all the public enterprises in this country, the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), the most unconstrained and least known of these.

Although Argentines have first-hand experience of how outrageously inefficient their public firms work, few if any of them know how effectively the CNEA functions behind closed doors.

This shouldn’t come to any surprise, however, considering that the CNEA – which answers directly to the presidency as well as controls and sets standards by itself – attributes its growth to past despotic de facto governments.

However, in present-day Argentina, it is no longer the pro or almost nonexistent anti-nuke forces that will decide on this country’s nuclear future, but by multi-billion-dollar figures that are nowhere in sight.

To cite only one example of how expensive Argentina’s nuclear programme is, Atucha II (728 MW PWHR), the country’s third, which is five to six years behind schedule because of financial difficulties, will end up costing 4.5 billion dollars if completed by the beginning of next decade.

Considering that even for European countries the cost of Atucha II would be considered ungodly, it is absurd that Argentines should pay such a high price for that medium-sized reactor’s construction only so the CNEA won’t lose face internationally and to cover up the government’s blatant inefficiency for not building the plant on time – in 1987 – which would have lowered the final cost of Atucha II to roughly 1.5 billion dollars.

Also, one can ask if it’s morally right for the government to go ahead with an expensive nuclear programme when public hospitals and schools are understaffed and poorly equipped, malnutrition is on the alarming rise and poverty has become increasingly paramount within Argentine society.

Because the CNEA was considered a Navy-run sector in the past, it is understandable that its development has been very much like the Armed Forces, they are expensive institutions that have thrived in the past thanks to national ignorance of the issues, misinformation and myopic nationalism.

Increasingly enough, in recent months the CNEA has shown an interest in “debating” the nuclear issue with its countrymen. Although dialogue has been carried out on a very low-keyed and humble level, one could ask why an autocratic organization has suddenly manifested such an interest.

Does the CNEA need public support to pressure the Radical administration for needed funds? Has the return of democracy forced that organization to give an illusion that it wants to talk seriously with the public about nuclear issues? Have all these years of tight-lipped silence given the CNEA staff a moral guilty complex?

Taking a close look at the arguments the CNEA uses to support its expensive nuclear programme, it isn’t a dualistic issue – being in favor or against – because Argentina has prodigious hydropower and natural gas resources. Never mind the enormous potential of wind power and the scandalous amount of energy we waste thanks to inefficient transmission lines, the long distances we have to transport electricity. Some sources say that as much as 25 percent of all gas extracted is lost although 18 percent would be a more realistic figure.

And then there is the question of the competency of national energy figures who speak of the need for more power plants but do not know much electricity is generated, let alone the overall prices of how much a kilowatt-hour costs.

To add to this boisterous inefficiency, the energy secretariat published a couple of years ago a National Energy Plan 1986-2000 (PEN) which that very government entity has admitted contains “mistakes.”

As mentioned above, it not a question of being against nuclear energy, but how competent are public energy officials to decide in favor of an energy source over another if they are by and large politicians as opposed to technicians.

Add to all this an apathetic public and a largely dormant national press on the salient issues and you’ve got a dangerous scenario brewing that spells irresponsible and reckless use of public funds and by unconvincing “safety” levels of Argentina’s nuclear plants that are run by underpaid operators.

As long as energy officials and the CNEA alike continue to misinform and project to their public a quixotical world view on nuclear energy, they will never build atoms for progress, but for underdevelopment.

Making racism shameful in Finland and Europe

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

While the US Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. did not eradicate racism in the United States, it was singled out as a threat to society and challenged. Landmark laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were not the only matters that changed things. Racism became shameful in many parts of the United States.  

Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by an assassin’s bullet on April 4, 1968.  I still remember that day as vividly as when President John F. Kennedy’s assassination four years earlier.

We heard about the news of King’s death in class on radio as well. One comment by a white male still rings out in my head even after four decades. It was the face of racism speaking to you in its crudest and rudest form:  “It’s a good thing that King was killed,” the man said without any remorse.

Right around when the landmark Civil Rights Act was passed, racism thrived at our elementary school as well as in many other places.  In Hollywood, Mexicans were the natural targets of your racism and rage. At our school we hated anyone who was different, even an obese classmate.

I’ll never forget when our school got its first black student.  The principle gave a talk to the whole school shortly before this historic event at our elementary school.  He told us to treat the new student with respect and like any other student.

I personally felt sorry and ashamed by the hostile behavior of my fellow classmates. I did speak out but there was very little I could do.  What happened, however, left a lasting and disturbing impression that has followed me during my lifetime.

The black student lasted about two weeks at our school.

I only remember his last name. It was Brown. Some kids joked about it making comparisons of his last name to excrement.

How is it possible that children can learn so much hatred and racism?

For one, racism wasn’t shameful back then. It was part of a child’s everyday language. If you were an adult, it was part of your macho identity if you were  a man.

It’s clear that racism thrives in places where it isn’t effectively challenged. Racism is an astute foe because it can poison your mind even without your knowledge. Some racists don’t know that they behave and hold such anti-social attitudes.

The rise of a party like the Perussuomalaiset in April and its leader Timo Soini playing down racism are good examples of how this social ill has grown in a Finnish context. The arguments used are the same that racists in the U.S. and in other parts of the world justified ethnic discrimination.

If Soini were black or part of a minority like the Romany, I doubt that he’d play down the role of racism in the PS never mind Finland.

Just like racism can feed and help a movement like the Nazi Party to grow in the 1930s, it can bring out as well  great leaders like King and the best in our society.

We’ll know that we have won that decisive victory against racism and xenophobia in Finland when the majority of Finns consider them shameful and unacceptable.

How to effectively burn cultural bridges in Finland and elsewhere

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

If you want to build bridges of understanding between different cultures, you have to learn acceptance, respect, have an open mind and good social communication skills.  The total opposite of the above are racism, ignorance, pigheadedness and the inability to learn about other cultures never mind effective communication skills.

Most of us learn to communicate socially in our country. Why? Because it is an effective way to speak to others and make your point.

Thanks to such a valuable skill we’ve been able to build and live today in a society that isn’t yet too polarized.

That has now changed especially after the April 17 election. Even if there may be many socio-economic factors at play,  disrespect stands out as one of the culprits.

If we visit some websites in Finland like Hommaforum and Scripta, it becomes clear that they are forums where some people let their hate and racism hang out freely. How many of these bloggers would speak in such a tone to their own group? Maybe some, but not the majority because they know it is inappropriate and offensive.

For some odd reason, some Finns believe that it is perfectly fine to insult other groups. If they are criticized on this point for spreading urban legends, they point to the First Amendment, or freedom of speech.

There are ways to express opposition and other ways that are totally counterproductive.  Racism and disrespect are ineffective ways to get your point across.

Kokoomus presidential hopeful, Sauli Niinistö, said in a recent interview on STT that disrespect is one of the key issues that has poisoned the debating atmosphere in Finland. “…since that person said it like that, I’ll show him (and hit him harder). Probably the person did not mean to be so offensive,” he said.

Glenn Robinson publishes a lot of interesting material on Community Village Daily Activist. One of the blog entries is on multicultural etiquette.  He gives the following advice:

1. It’s okay to speak the language of another culture.

2. It’s okay to eat the food of another culture.

3. It’s okay to use the technology of another culture.

4. It’s okay for actors to dress in the clothes of another culture.

5. It’s NOT okay for you to dress in the clothes of another culture on Halloween.

6. It’s NOT okay to tell an African American that they sound like a ‘White’ person – even if you’re joking.

Do you think the following points apply to Finland? What would you add or omit from Robinson’s list?

Here is another link to seven innocent gestures that can get you killed overseas.

Denial, ignorance and racism are the lamentable side of the same coin

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

When do immigrants and Finns with culturally diverse backgrounds become their worst enemy? Does it happen when we become blind or play down the existence of social ills such as racism and prejudice in our society?

Martin Luther King (1928-68), sheds some light to this question: “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

In the same manner, we can highlight the “appalling silence” and denial of some immigrants.

It’s misleading — to put it very lightly — to think that just because a person is an immigrant  he or she does not hold any prejudices. There are ample threads on Migrant Tales that reveal how some immigrants  can be more racist and nationalistic than some Finns.

Where do you expect racism in the Americas came from? It did not spring from nowhere.  Some immigrants brought it with them as part of their baggage to the New World from their former home countries.

The need to adapt in a new society may be so strong for some that it may encourage them to become more nationalistic and racist than some Finns. The other lamentable side of the coin is denial of the existence of any problems such as discrimination.

One person that comes to mind is Belgium-born naturalized Finn Freddy Van Wanterghem, a Perussuomalaiset party city councilman from Kotka who has pretty extremist ideas especially about Muslims and Africans.

I recently read an interview about with a black African on Mikkeli-based daily Länsi-Savo. The person denied that he had ever been mistreated in Finland.

“I have never faced racism in Finland,” he was quoted as saying. “There was more of that in Egypt, where people thought we were stealing their jobs…Young people may sometimes comment things (in public). It’s more teasing than racism. Usually they are surprised when I speak back to them in Finnish.”

If we are fair, it must be pretty depressing if you are black to be constantly asked the question “have you suffered racism in this country?” Even if this may be the case, denial isn’t the correct path.

Denial, ignorance and even racism of some immigrants are even greater challenges than the institutional racism we find in society.

Savon Sanomat: Rasismi on uhka kaikille

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Enrique Tessieri Puheenjohtaja Kansainvälinen Mikkely ry ja Alain Minguet Puheenjohtaja Joensuun seudun monikulttuurisuusyhdistys ry

Miksi meidän tulisi olla huolestuneita rasismin noususta Iisalmessa, Lieksassa ja muualla? Mitä se kertoo Suomen yhteiskunnasta ja sen pahoinvoinnista?

Suomessa rasismi on noussut ihmisten tietoisuuteen yhä voimakkaammin erityisesti viimeisten kahden vuoden aikana. Siitä vaikeneminen ei ole oikea tie.

Ilmiötä ei voi selittää syyttämällä maahanmuuttajia. Lausahdus “meidän kotiseudulla ei ollut rasismia, ennen kuin tänne muuttivat maahanmuuttajat”, ei tunnu selittävän perimmäistä syytä.

Miten on mahdollista, että niin pieni joukko, reilu kaksi sataa, maahanmuuttajaa voi saada Lieksassa niin paljon vastustusta, vihaa ja pahaa aikaan?

Yhdysvaltalainen vapaustaistelija Martin Luther King Jr. (1928 – 1968) edesauttoi elämässään merkittävästi mustien oikeuksia 1950- ja 1960-luvuilla. Hänen neuvonsa kantautuvat myös tämän päivän keskusteluun. Hän sanoi: “Vihaa ei voi poistaa vihalla, vain rakkaus pystyy siihen.” Strategiamme rasismia ja vihaa vastaan tulee olla sama kuin Kingin.

Taistelu rasismia vastaan on myös askel meidän lastemme ja lastenlastemme paremman tulevaisuuden puolesta. He voivat elää maassa, jossa rasismi ja viha toisia kohtaan ovat poikkeus ja harvinaisuus.

Suomeen mahtuu paljon erilaisia ihmisiä. Voimme olla hyvinkin erilaisia, mutta olemme kaikki tämän maan asukkaita. Pohjana on kunnioitus ja hyväksyntä puolin ja toisin. Tämä ei ole uutta suomalaisille, vaan se on tapa, joka on ollut aina läsnä.

Rasismi on uhka kaikille, myös niille, jotka levittävät sitä tietoisesti tai tiedostamattaan. Jos annamme rasismin ja eriarvoisuuden voittaa, seurauksista tulee kohtalokkaat. Köyhdymme yhteiskunnallisesti, poliittisesti ja ennen kaikkea taloudellisesti.

Mitä tapahtuu kylälle, maakunnalle tai maalle, jos saamme rasistisen leiman? Kuinka monta osaava ihmistä tai maahanmuuttajaa haluaa pysyä täällä ja muuttaa tänne? Kuinka monta yritystä haluaa sijoittaa rahaa ja luoda työpaikkoja? Uskomme, että hyvin harva. Ne, jotka pystyvät, muuttavat muualle etsimään parempaa työtä ja valoisampaa tulevaisuutta.

Voimme olla ylpeitä monista hienoista saavutuksistamme Suomessa, mutta rasismi ei kuulu tähän listaan. Suomessa on paljon valveutuneita esimerkillisiä kansalaisia, jotka eivät hyväksy nyt yhteiskunnassa vellovaa keskustelua. Näiden ihmisten tuleekin puhua ja kuulua entistä äänekkäämmin.

He ovat ymmärtäneet, että toimivaa ja pysyvää yhteiskuntaa ei voi rakentaa vihan perustukselle.

Lue juttu Savon Sanomissa.

How well does Finland’s school system educate children with immigrant backgrounds?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

A story on the Guardian  praises Finland’s educational system for setting a “great example” in educating immigrant children. While I am certain there are many success stories out there, are matters that rosy as the London daily claims?

When I read the article I thought about a  survey published in February, which showed 41% of  teachers would want to limit at schools the amount of pupils with immigrant backgrounds?

Like everything else, perspective is key. What do children with immigrant backgrounds say about our educational system? Do they agree whole-heartedly with what the Guradian writes?

Certainly there is a lot of good will in this country to make immigration work. Even so, do we agree about the big picture, or what is the role of these students will be when they become adults in our ever-culturally diverse society?

Certainly there are big differences between schools in eastern Helsinki and small towns like Liperi.

“Liperi is a small town in the region of Pohjois-Karjala and there weren’t too many Russians when we moved there (in the 1990s),” says Aune Rugoyeva. “It was sometimes pretty tough at  middle-school since my classmates chewed me out (for being Russian) and excluded me (from the rest of the group). It was a very lonely place to be.”

The bullying that Aune suffered at the school was possible thanks to the teachers who turned a blind eye, according to her.

One of the most important questions our world-famous educational system should therefore be asking is how does it encourage cultural diversity?

When schools speak of “multiculturalism,” or diversity, do they overlook the important fact that the pupil is culturally hybrid and can move between two or more cultures ambidextrously?  When students with immigrant backgrounds, especially those who are visible minorities and who have lived most of their lives in Finland, are asked to “tell about their cultures” at school do we fall into the trap of “us” and “them?”

Probably the last person to understand a student’s hybridity is a someone who has never been an immigrant never mind lived in two or more cultures simultaneously.

Does our school system strengthen and reinforce the students cultural hybridity as an integral part of Finnishness? Most importantly, does it teach important values such as acceptance and respect of such diversity?

Another matter that the Guardian article did not write about is that teachers in Finland rank almost as high as the police with respect to their conservative views of society.

MTV3: Kauppalehti: Siivousfirmojen pitää irtisanoa maahanmuuttajia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: What can you make out of this story below? MTV3 claims, quoting business daily Kauppalehti, that the office that hands out work permits in the Uusimaa region of Southern Finland wants cleaning companies to hire EU nationals.  This may be easier said than done. 

MTV3 reports that the employers of the cleaning companies are pretty irritated by the recommendation since finding such workers among EU nationals are scarce.  Siskon Siivous general manager, Pasi Hämäläinen, said that two thirds of the company’s employees come from outside Europe.

” This latest case does give the lie to claims about alleged welfare shopping by humanitarian migrants,” writes JusticeDemon in a thread.

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Uudellamaalla kiistellään siivousalan työvoimatilanteesta, kertoo Kauppalehti. Uudenmaan työlupayksikkö on evännyt työlupia afrikkalaisilta ja aasialaisilta siivoojilta ja kehottanut yrityksiä palkkaamaan siivoojia Euroopan talousalueelta. Luvatta jääneet siivoojat olivat olleet töissä jo vuosia, turvapaikkahakemuksen käsittelyn kestäessä.

Read whole story.

MTV3: Janne Virkkunen: Tulevan presidentin puututtava Suomen ahdistavaan ilmapiiriin

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Former Helsingin Sanomat editor-in-chief, Janne Virkkunen, expresses concern over the anti-immigration atmosphere in Finland. He partly blames its rise on the Perussuomalaiset (PS), whose head, Timo Soini, is well aware of the racism issue of the party. 

Globalization is another factor which has motived some Finns to look for a scapegoat for the country’s problems, according to him.  

The former editor-in-chief said that curbing debate on the Internet will not undermine hate speech. He believed that one matter that could be done now is for the presidential candidates to take a strong stand against such a social ill. 

Migrant Tales agrees totally with Virkkunen’s analysis and medicine for Finland. The only way that racism can be beat is to react and confront it with facts. Too many politicians in Finland have, however, chosen to remain silent on this front. 

Silence is racism’s best ally because it feeds its delusional view of the world. 

If we permit racism to enter our society through the backdoor and allow it to grow unchecked, it will impact Finland politically, socially and economically.  

By racist parties we mean those that encourage and spread urban tales about immigrants for their own opportunistic means. The most notable of these are the PS in general and the anti-immigration wing in particular led by MP Jussi Halla-aho. 

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Helsingin Sanomien entinen päätoimittaja Janne Virkkunen on huolissaan Suomessa leviävästä ulkomaalaisvastaisuudesta ja vihakirjoittelusta. “Minua ahdistaa. Yhteiskuntamme ilmapiiri on tällä hetkellä sellainen, että suvaitsemattomuus vain nousee nousemistaan,” Janne Virkkunen sanoo.

Read whole story.

The snow job of the far right in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The shocking revelations in Germany, whereby 140 people have died since 1990 as a result of far-right violence, is a wake-up call for us in Finland as well.  How is it possible that so many people are killed by a far-right terror cell without anyone raising a question? 

Writes Spiegel Online International: “Now, Germany has been startled from its slumber. Ever since the discovery of an underground far-right terror group which apparently targeted Turkish small businessmen all across Germany for many years, the law enforcement agencies have been asking themselves how they could have overlooked something that is actually impossible to overlook.”

The guardian.co.uk reports: “The German parliament has passed a cross-party resolution expressing ‘deep shame’ that a neo-Nazi terror cell was left unchecked to murder 10 people during 13 years on the run.”

Supo assured Finns in early November that while it takes the far right seriously, it does not consider these groups dangerous, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

What does “dangerous” mean? Should we be concerned?

Any person with some understanding of what has happened this year should be concerned. A party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), which got 19.1% of the votes in April from a tad over 4% in 2007, has received a dubious reputation in only eight months after its election victory. Just over a week after the election, it became pretty clear what some of their MPs thought about racism. Then came other issues concerning democracy, sexism, homosexuals never mind links to neo-Nazi associations like the Suomen Kansalinen Vastarinta (SKV).

Denial is one of the oldest snow jobs in the books: Racists never admit they are racists never mind the far right telling us that they are extremists.  That is why the role of  academics, analysts, writers and journalists who are on the ball are crucial at exposing these groups for what they are.

Some sectors of Finland, especially the police and Supo, have pretty conservative views about Finnish society. For some of them, the PS and groups like Suomen Sisu aren’t an issue because they identify with their ideology.

Even so, we at Migrant Tales see a worrying trend in Finland after April even though we feel that more Finns than ever expected are standing up to this menace posed by racism and nationalism.

By extremists we mean the SKV, Suomen Sisu and “light” versions of the latter like the PS, especially the Nuiva manifesto faction led by Jussi Halla-aho.

Should we be concerned or not in Finland?

I would be.